The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched another wave of its political clean-up, targeting 476 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs for possible delisting. The reason—these parties have not contested even a single election in the last six years.
Uttar Pradesh tops the blacklist with 121 such parties, followed by Maharashtra (44), Tamil Nadu (42) and Delhi (41). This is part of the ECI’s “continuous strategy” to weed out non-functional outfits that exist only on paper.
As per guidelines, any party failing to contest elections for six consecutive years loses its registered status. Under the Representation of the People Act, registered parties enjoy perks like election symbols and tax exemptions—benefits they now risk losing.
Earlier, on August 9, the ECI had already delisted 345 RUPPs that failed to meet criteria and whose offices couldn’t be traced at their registered addresses. Of them, 334 were removed from the rolls, reducing the total number of RUPPs from 2,854 to 2,520.
In this second round, show-cause notices will be issued to the newly flagged parties, giving them a final hearing before action is taken. Once delisted, they will no longer be eligible for benefits under Section 29B and 29C of the RP Act, 1951, or the Election Symbols Order, 1968.
Since 2022, the ECI has already delisted 284 non-compliant parties and declared 253 inactive—making it clear that the days of “paper-only” political outfits are numbered.
