Cleaning up of the Electoral System Continues
ECI starts proceedings to delist another 476 RUPPs
By PIB Delhi
- Political Parties (National/State/RUPPs) in the country are registered with the ECI under the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act 1951.
- Under provisions of the Act, any association once registered as a political party, gets certain privileges and advantages such as symbol, tax exemptions amongst others.
- Guidelines for registration of Political Parties mention that if the party does not contest elections continuously for 6 years, the party shall be taken off the list of registered parties.
- As part of a comprehensive and continuous strategy of the Election Commission to clean up the electoral system, ECI has been conducting a nationwide exercise to identify and delist Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs) which have failed to fulfil the essential condition of contesting even a single election for 6 years continuously, since 2019.
- In the first round of this exercise, ECI has already delisted 334 RUPPs on 9th August 2025 bringing down the number of listed RUPPs from 2,854 to 2,520.
- As part of second round of the exercise, another 476 RUPPs have been identified, which are from different States and UTs across the country. (Annexure)
- In order to ensure that no party is unduly delisted, the CEOs of the respective States/UTs have been directed to issue show-cause notices to these RUPPs following which, the parties will be given an opportunity through a hearing by the concerned CEOs.
- Based on the reports of the CEOs, the final decision regarding the delisting of any RUPP shall be taken by the Election Commission of India.
