EC delists 474 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties for failing to contest any election over past 6 years

The Election Commission has de-listed 474 registered unrecognised political parties for flouting norms. The decision was taken after they failed to fulfil the essential condition of contesting even a single election for six years continuously, since 2019. In the first phase of the exercise, the commission had de-listed 334 registered unrecognised political parties last month. With this exercise, 808 registered unrecognised political parties have been delisted in the last two months.
The commission informed that 359 such registered unrecognised political parties have been identified, for having not submitted their Annual Audited Accounts in the last three financial years within the stipulated time period. These are from 23 different States and Union Territories across the country. In order to ensure that no party is unduly delisted, the Chief Electoral Office of the respective States and UTs have been directed to issue show-cause notices to these parties following which, they will be given an opportunity through a hearing by the concerned Chief Electoral Officers. The Election Commission said that it takes the final decision on delisting of any registered unrecognised political parties based on the reports of the CEOs.