Found non-existent, 87 registered unrecognised parties struck off Election Commission's list

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has struck off 87 entities from its list of Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPP) after they were found non-existent during physical verification, officials said on Thursday.

The action followed a statement by the poll panel a few days back announcing action against more than 2,100 registered unrecognised political parties for flouting rules and election law, including those related to filing of monetary contributions, failing to update their address and names of office bearers.

It had said some of these parties were indulging in "serious" financial impropriety.

The poll panel had noted that 87 RUPPs had failed to update their address of communication as mandated by law.

These parties were found to be non-existent after physical verification carried out by the chief electoral officers of the respective states, sources said.

On Thursday, the EC shared a list of the RUPPs whose names have been deleted.

The Commission had carried out such exercises in the past, too, sources said.

A party aggrieved by the EC's action can approach the chief chief electoral officer concerned for redress with "evidences of existence".

If these 87 RUPPs fail to take remedial steps, they render themselves liable to be "not entitled to have benefits under the Symbols Order, 1968, including allocation of common symbol."

As of September 2021, there were 2,796 registered unrecognised political parties, an increase of over 300 per cent since 2001.