There is a need to keep non-serious parties out of the political system, and to ensure they do not misuse facilities like tax exemption. Their registration should be regulated by law, a parliamentary panel has said.
The recommendation of the committee comes days after the Election Commission wrote to the Income-Tax department asking it to look into the finances of 255 political parties it has ‘delisted’ for not contesting elections.
The Commission has, over a period of time, identified various parties which have not contested polls since 2005 and has ‘delisted’ 255 of them.
The poll panel believes that most of them exist on paper to help people convert their back money into white by accepting donations.
No power to de-register
While the poll watchdog has the mandate to register a political party, it lacks power under electoral laws to deregister one.
There are over 1,780 registered, but unrecognised political parties in the country.
