Election Commission awaits ministry's approval to deregister inactive parties
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The Election Commission has sought the power to deregister inactive parties from the latest list. It has notified the updated list of registered political parties and it includes 2,796 registered unrecognised parties.
The EC is concerned over the possible misuse of the income tax exemption by parties that don't contest elections. The Law Ministry hasn't yet responded to the proposal. The matter was also brought to the notice of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, reported The Hindu.
A senior official told the daily that only 673 parties participated in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and this includes recognised and unrecognised parties. One of the concerns was that some of the registered parties may be collecting donations and using them for other purposes like functioning as shell entities and money laundering.
The Election Commission proposed deregistering parties that don't contest in two consecutive elections, Parliamentary, or Assembly. The EC has the power to register parties under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, but it does not have the power to deregister parties that are inactive.