Registered and Recognized Political Parties

Source-This post on Registered and Recognized Political Parties has been created based on the article “Can parties be de-recognised or de-registered?” published in “The Hindu” on 16 May 2024.

UPSC Syllabus-GS Paper-2– Salient Features of the Representation of People’s Act

Context– The Election Commission of India (ECI), in its report on MCC enforcement, stresses that star campaigners should set a good example and avoid causing any disturbances to societal peace. This has sparked discussions about the ECI’s authority to curb MCC violations.

What are registered parties?

1) Defined under– Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RP Act) defines the criteria for political parties to get registered with the ECI. As per the ECI, there are 2,790 active registered political parties in India.

2) Requirement-Registered political parties must submit their memorandum/constitution to the ECI, pledging allegiance to the Indian Constitution, principles of socialism, secularism, and democracy, and upholding India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity.

3)  Benefits enjoyed by the registered parties-

(a) tax exemption for donations received under Section 13A of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

(b) common symbol for contesting general elections to the Lok Sabha/State Assemblies

(c) twenty ‘star campaigners’ during election campaign.

What are recognized parties?

1) Defined under-It’s called a Registered Unrecognized Political Party (RUPP). Political parties are recognized either as ‘national’ or ‘State’ parties according to The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, by the ECI. At present, there are 6 ‘national’ parties, and 61 ‘State’ parties that have been recognized.

2) Requirement-To be recognized at the national or state level, a party needs to win a certain number of seats or get a specific percentage of votes in a Lok Sabha or State Assembly election.

3) Benefits– They receive benefits like a reserved election symbol and 40 star campaigners.

What are the issues?

1) Registered Parties and Election Contestation-Less than one-third of registered parties contest elections. The RP Act does not confer explicit powers on the ECI to de-register any political party if it fails to contest elections, conduct inner-party elections or lodge requisite returns.

2) Political Party Deregistration– The Supreme Court in Indian National Congress versus Institute of Social Welfare & Ors (2002) had held that the ECI can de-register a political party only under exceptional circumstances like fraud or disloyalty to the Constitution.

3) Abuse of Tax Exemptions– RUPPs that abstain from contesting elections raise concerns about potential misuse of income tax exemptions and donations for money laundering purposes.

4) Limited Enforcement of MCC by ECI -The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) prohibits appealing to caste/communal sentiments and voter intimidation/bribery. Recognized parties have been guilty of MCC violations. However, the action of ECI has been limited. For ex- short campaigning bans.

Read more- Model Code of Conduct

What reforms have been proposed to address these issues?

1) The ECI’s electoral reforms memorandum (2016) suggests amendments in laws to grant the ECI de-registration powers.

2) The Law Commission’s 255th report (2015) suggests deregistration for parties that do not participate in elections for ten consecutive years.

3) Paragraph 16A of the Symbols order grants the ECI the authority to suspend or revoke the recognition of parties for MCC violations, although this provision has rarely been applied. Therefore, there is a necessity to employ this provision more frequently to reduce breaches of the Model Code of Conduct.

Question for practice

What challenges are caused by the ECI’s inability to deregister a political party? What measures can be implemented to solve this problem?