EC to intensify scrutiny of founding members of outfits seeking registration as political parties

New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) The Election Commission has stepped up scrutiny of the founders of the registered unrecognised political parties after several such outfits were found to be inactive or defunct.

In August, the Commission had de-listed 334 registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) as part of its ongoing exercise of cleaning up the electoral system, officials said.

"Now, to ensure that applicants seeking registration of their associations as a political party under Section 29A are thoroughly verified at the stage of registration itself, ECI has issued instructions for an intensified scrutiny of the founding members," the Commission said.

In the first round of the exercise to clean up the electoral system, the Commission has already delisted 334 RUPPs on August 9, 2025, bringing down the number of listed RUPPs from 2,854 to 2,520.

In the second round of the exercise in August 2025, ECI had identified another 476 RUPPS and directed the CEOs of States and UTs to conduct verification enquiries against these political parties.

The Commission said in some recent cases, applicants had submitted manipulated and/or false affidavits in an attempt to secure registration under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act.

To remove such dubious applicants and to ensure that only genuine applicants get considered for registration, the EC has decided that verification of at least 20 randomly selected individual affidavits of the founding members shall be carried out, the Commission said.

As the members could be from different districts/states, the CEO(s) concerned would carry out the verifications through the respective DEOS, the Commission said. PTI SKU RT RT