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Key Points

The Election Commission is significantly tightening the process for political party registration. They will now verify at least 20 randomly selected founding member affidavits to weed out dubious applicants. This move is part of their broader effort to clean up the electoral system by removing non-existent political parties. The Commission has already delisted 334 parties and identified 476 more for verification.

Key Points: ECI Intensifies Scrutiny for Political Party Registration Applicants

  • ECI mandates verification of 20 random founding member affidavits
  • CEOs to conduct checks through district election officers nationwide
  • Part of ongoing cleanup delisting non-functional political parties
  • First round removed 334 RUPPs reducing total from 2,854 to 2,520
  • Second round identifies 476 more parties for verification
  • Process follows Section 29A of Representation of People Act 1951
3 min read

ECI to intensify scrutiny of groups seeking status of political party

ECI tightens political party registration process with enhanced verification of founding members to eliminate dubious applicants and clean up electoral system.

"To remove dubious applicants and to ensure that only genuine applicants get considered for registration - Election Commission of India"

New Delhi, Sep 9

The ECI on Tuesday decided to step up scrutiny of applicants seeking registration of their associations as a political party and issued instructions for an intensified verification of the antecedents of the founding members, an official said.

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

As the members could be from different districts/States, the CEO(s) concerned would carry out the verifications through the respective DEOs, it said.

The measure follows the Election Commission of India’s ongoing exercise of cleaning up the electoral system by delisting non-existent/non-functional Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs)

“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,” said the ECI in a statement.

Political Parties (National/State/RUPPs) in the country are registered with the ECI under the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act 1951.

As part of delisting non-existent/non-functional Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs), the ECI, in the first round of exercise, delisted 334 RUPPs by August 9.

The action brought down the number of listed RUPPs from 2,854 to 2,520.

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

Earlier in the day, the ECI held an interaction with a delegation of the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), led by its authorised representative K. Senthilkumar, as part of its ongoing consultations with political parties to further strengthen the electoral process.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, received the delegation at Nirvachan Sadan in the national capital.

The meeting enabled the party to put forward its suggestions and concerns before the Commission.

The ECI said that such interactions reflect its broader vision of fostering constructive dialogue with all stakeholders in line with the existing legal framework.

The Commission has been holding similar consultations with presidents and senior representatives of national and state parties over the past several months. According to data shared by the poll panel, more than 4,719 all-party meetings have been conducted during the last six months across the country.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

P
Priya S
Good step but implementation is key. Hope they don't just do random checks but proper background verification. We need genuine political parties that actually work for people, not just on paper.
A
Arjun K
Removing 334 fake parties is a good start. But 2,520 still remaining? That's still too many. Many of these parties exist only during elections to split votes. ECI should have minimum membership requirements too.
S
Sarah B
As someone who has observed Indian politics, this is a positive development. The electoral system needs cleaning up. Hope this leads to more serious political discourse rather than fragmentation.
V
Vikram M
While I appreciate the intent, I hope this doesn't become a tool to suppress genuine regional parties. The process should be transparent and fair to all applicants, not just favor established parties.
M
Michael C
Interesting move. The scale of the problem is huge - 4,719 meetings in 6 months shows how complex Indian democracy is. Hope this leads to better quality political representation.

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