Initiates action against 359 others for violations
New Delhi, Sep 19: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has intensified its ongoing drive to clean up the electoral system by delisting another 474 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs) for failing to contest elections continuously for six years.
The list also has 12 more political parties from J&K
According to an official order, the poll body struck off the registration of 12 parties that failed to contest any election in Jammu & Kashmir over the past six years.
These parties did not participate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, or the 2024 Assembly polls—the three electoral exercises conducted by the Election Commission since 2019 in J&K.
The parties identified by the Commission include: Backward Classes Democratic Party, Duggar Pradesh Party, Front of Revolutionised Creative Efforts, Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Party (Secular), Kashmir Development Front, Jammu & Kashmir National Democratic Front, Nature Mankind Friendly Global Party, Jammu & Kashmir Save Party, Secular Party of India, Jammu State Morcha (Progressive), Social Movement Party, and Secular Party of India.
Although many of the delisted parties were relatively obscure, three were either founded by prominent political figures or rooted in significant causes.
Jammu State Morcha was formed on the eve of 2002 Assembly elections to advocate for a separate state for Jammu.
The Jammu & Kashmir National Democratic Front was headed by Abdur Rashid Kabuli, who won on a Janata Party ticket in 1977 from the Eidgah segment of Srinagar. Kabuli was supported by the Awami Action Committee, which was declared an unlawful association by the Central Government in 2025.
The Nature Mankind Friendly Global Party is led by Babu Singh, a former minister in the PDP-Congress government. He was arrested in a Hawla case in 2022.
The Commission, in a statement said that with this second phase of action, a total of 808 RUPPs have been removed from the list since August 2025.
Earlier, on August 9, 334 RUPPs were delisted in the first phase of the exercise.
“In the first phase of this exercise, ECI had delisted 334 RUPPs on August 9, 2025. In continuation, in the second phase, ECI delisted 474 RUPPs on September 18, 2025, based on non-contestation in elections conducted by ECI continuously for 6 years. Thus, 808 RUPPs have been delisted in the last 2 months,” said the ECI in its press statement.
Under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, political parties are granted privileges such as election symbols and tax exemptions upon registration.
However, guidelines stipulate that if a party fails to contest any election for six consecutive years, it must be removed from the register.
The latest round of delisting, conducted on September 18, saw the maximum number of RUPPs axed from Uttar Pradesh (121), followed by Maharashtra (44), Tamil Nadu (42), and Delhi (40). States such as Punjab (21), Madhya Pradesh (23), Bihar (15), and Andhra Pradesh (17) also featured prominently in the list, amongst others.
In addition, the ECI has initiated proceedings against 359 other RUPPs that have failed to submit their annual audited accounts for three consecutive financial years (2021-22 to 2023-24) and have also not filed mandatory election expenditure reports despite contesting polls.
These parties span 23 states and Union Territories, with Uttar Pradesh (127), Tamil Nadu (39), and Delhi (41) accounting for the bulk of non-compliant organisations.
The Commission has directed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) in the respective states and UTs to issue show-cause notices to the identified parties. Hearings will be conducted before any final decision on delisting is made.
“In order to ensure that no party is unduly delisted, the CEOs of the respective States/UTs have been directed to issue show-cause notices to these RUPPs, following which, the parties will be given an opportunity through a hearing by the concerned CEOs,” it said.
“The ECI takes the final decision on delisting of any RUPP based on the reports of the CEOs,” the Commission clarified. (With inputs from KNO)
