Ahead of the Assembly polls due in five States — Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry — in April-May this year, at least 52 political outfits are knocking at the door of the Election Commission ( EC) for registration. As per the EC, more than 52 political parties have approached the poll body for registration in the past three month. Interestingly, over a dozen outfits are from those states where assembly polls are due in the coming months.
As per the Act, registration of political parties is governed by the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. An association seeking registration under the said Section has to submit an application to the Commission within a period of 30 days following the date of its formation, as per the guidelines prescribed by the Commission in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 324 of the Constitution of India and Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
According to the Election commission of India, for registration, there must be at least 100 members present in the new political party. Each member of the proposed party should possess a Voter ID card. Possessing a Voter ID card implies that the particular member is above the age of 18.
National Democratic Party of South India is based in Tamil Nadu. Bharath Socialism Party’s office is located in Tamil Nadu and its president is C Arumugam. Bharatha Makkal Kazhagam is also Tamil Nadu based political party. United Republican Party of India is also office in Tamil Nadu. Bhartiya Yuva Ekta Shakti Party is Uttarakhand based party and Neha Singh is the president. Jan Pragati Party’s office is located in Uttar Pradesh. Swatanta Abhivyakti Party is from Gujarat. Rashtra Samanya Praja Party is from Telangana. Jan Sahara Party’s office is in Delhi. Rising People’s Party office in Nagaland. Pehchan People’s Party is based in Rajasthan.
The political parties which applied for registration include Makkal Munnetra Peravai, Nava Kerala People’s Party, Makkal Rajjiyam Katchi, Bhartiya Hind Party, Praja Shakti Democratic Party, Bhagidari Party (P), Sarvlokhit Samaj Party, Apni Janta Party, Makkal Thilagam Munnetra Kazhagam, Vastavik Bharat Party, Sudharvadi Party, Kisan Vishwa party, Majaloom Samaj Party, Bahujan Lokrajya Party.
The number of registered unrecognised political parties has increased two-fold from 2010 to 2019, according to a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). From 1,112 such parties in 2010, the number of unrecognised registered parties has increased to 2,301 in 2019. “Between 2018 and 2019, it increased by over 9.8 per cent while between 2013 and 2014, it increased by 18 per cent,” the report said. Either newly registered parties or those which have not secured enough percentage of votes in the assembly or general elections to become a state party, or those which have never contested elections since being registered are considered unrecognised parties.
Experts claim there are different reasons for the mushrooming of such parties. People have political ambitions and it’s quite easy to register political parties. This is why so many such parties register. Besides these parties might also be used for money laundering as they are exempted from income tax
Besides, Bharat Vaibhav Party, Samajwadi Lok Parishad, Indian Movement Party, Sangjukta Anchalik Dal Asom, Krantikari Parivartan Party, Uttarakhand Navnirman Party, Azad Hind Krantikari Party, Bihar Justice Party , Sudharvadi Party, Kisan Vishwa party, Majaloom Samaj Party, Bahujan Lokrajya Party, Bhagidari Party (P), Sarvlokhit Samaj Party, Apni Janta Party, Makkal Thilagam Munnetra Kazhagam and Vastavik Bharat Party applied for registration.
