Eight Karnataka-based registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) have been delisted while eight others have been notified as “inactive” by the Election Commission of India as part of the nation-wide crackdown on RUPPs that have not participated in election process nor have complied with statutory obligations.
What they lose and why
The ECI’s recent announcement comes as part of nation-wide action in which it declared a total of 253 RUPPs across the country as inactive and declared 86 “non-existent.” While an inactive RUPP loses the benefits of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, the non-existent RUPPs will be deleted from the list and the benefits under the Symbols Order, 1968, will be withdrawn.
The ECI has said that the eight RUPPs will be marked as “inactive” in the register of RUPPs maintained by the Commission under Section 29A of Representation of People Act, 1951. In June 2022, the Commission had delisted Rashtriya Hindusthan Sena and Karnataka Thamizhar Munnetra Kazhagam, both Karnataka-based. The action against RUPPs is being taken as more than 90% of them had not submitted audited reports despite claiming income tax exemptions.
Following the development, Karnataka now has 82 registered unrecognised political parties.
Tax exemptions
The Election Commission took the decision based on the report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka. Similar action has been initiated against RUPPs in Bihar, Delhi Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. According to the Election Commission, across India 199 RUPPs claimed ₹445 crore exemption in 2018-2019 while 219 RUPPs claimed exemption of ₹ 608 crore in 2019-2020. It said 66 RUPPs which claimed a total exemption of ₹385 crore in 2019-2020 have not submitted contribution report mandated under the Act.
“The inactive parties are those who have not responded to the letter or notice delivered to them and have not contested a single election to either legislative assembly or the Parliament since 2014,” the Election Commission noted.
Since 2014, Karnataka has gone to Assembly elections in 2018 and parliamentary election in 2019 besides a host of by-elections to legislative assembly. The election to the State legislative assembly is around the corner and is scheduled to take place in April/ May 2023.
According to the ECI, these RUPPs have failed to comply with statutory requirements for more than 16 compliances since 2015 and continue to default. “Immediate corrective measures are warranted in larger public interest as well as for the purity of electoral democracy,” the Commission said, adding that corrective measures have been taken to discharge the mandate of ensuring just, free, fair and transparent electoral process.
Sources at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Bengaluru pointed out that the statutory requirements include regular reports of the annual audited accounts, contribution report, expenditure report and updation of office bearers that will include authorised signatories for financial transactions among others.
“In several cases, physical verification were undertaken to ascertain the postal address and if these registered parties existed there. While the Commission took the decision based on the report of the CEO office on all these matters, the parties have 30 days’ time to appeal against the order,” officials said.
