Election Commission’s big decision just before Bihar elections, removed 334 registered unrecognized political parties from the list.

Today, on August 9, the Election Commission (EC) removed 334 registered unrecognized political parties from the list. These parties removed from the list had failed to fulfill the mandatory conditions of contesting a single election from 2019 to 2025 (for 6 years). And also the offices of these parties were not physically located anywhere. The Election Commission said that these 334 registered unrecognized political parties are from various states and union territories across the country. After sorting out a total of 2,854 registered unrecognized political parties, now there are 2,520 political parties left in the country.

Let us tell you, currently the number of active national parties in India is 6 and the number of state level parties is 67. As per the rules of the Election Commission, a standard has been set for getting recognition as a national and regional party. The party that gets more than 6% of the votes in four states is given the status of a national party. According to this standard, apart from BJP and Congress, only Aam Aadmi Party, BSP, CPI(M) and National People’s Party are national parties.

What are the provisions in Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act 1951?

Political parties (national, state or RUPP) in the country are registered with the Election Commission under the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act 1951. Under this provision, any association gets certain privileges and benefits like tax exemption once registered as a political party. But now these 334 parties will not get any benefits after being removed from the list.

What is the purpose behind removing parties from the list?

According to Election Commission officials, this process has been done with the aim of improving the political system and removing those parties from the list which have not participated in any Lok Sabha or state or union territory assemblies or by-elections since 2019. This new step has been taken before the Bihar elections. Parties removed from the list can no longer field their candidates to contest the Bihar elections.