Sunil Lohan
Under the leadership of Chief Election Commissioner of India,Jnanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Dr.Sukubir Singh Sandhu and Dr.Vivek Joshi,a process has been initiated to cancel the registration of 10 registered unrecognized political parties in Bengaluru district.
These parties have not contested in any election over the past six years, since 2019,and their offices could not be traced.
In India,political parties (National / State / Registered Unrecognized) are required to register with the Election Commission under the provisions of Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Registered political parties are eligible for certain specific privileges and concessions, one of which includes tax exemptions.
While the majority of political parties have complied with the registration process with the Election Commission, several registered unrecognized parties have failed to contest even a single election since 2019.
Many of these parties appear to have become defunct, which has come to the notice of the Election Commission.
The preliminary list of such registered unrecognized political parties in Bengaluru district is as follows:
1.Ambedkar Janata Party.
2.Bharatiya Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Janata Party.
3.Bharatiya Praja Party.
4.Kalyana Kranti Party.
5.Karnataka Praja Vikas Party.
6.Mahila Pradhana Party.
7.Namma Congress.
8.Praja Raitha Rajya Party.
9.Rakshaka Sena.
10.Samajwadi Janata Party (Karnataka).
In this context,as per the directions of the Election Commission and in the absence of any known current address for these parties—combined with the fact that they have not contested any Lok Sabha,Rajya Sabha, State Assembly,or Assembly By-Elections in the past six years— the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka has issued Show Cause Notices under the powers conferred by Article 324 of the Constitution of India and under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
These notices question why the registration of such parties should not be cancelled.
The concerned Assistant District Election Officers have served the notices accordingly.
Through these notices, the parties are given an opportunity to present their explanation.The presidents or general secretaries of these parties may submit written representations along with the required documents and affidavits.
If no response is received within the stipulated deadline, the Election Commission may proceed with issuing appropriate orders, as mentioned in the Show Cause Notices issued to these 10 parties.
Accordingly, Bengaluru District Election Officer and Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao has urged the representatives of these registered unrecognized parties to appear in person on the date of hearing and utilize the opportunity to submit their written statements.
