Former CEC Qureshi welcomes delisting of 200 political parties

Former Chief Election Commissioner of India S. Y. Qureshi on Thursday welcomed the Election Commission's(EC's) proposed move to delist 200 political parties on the basis of lack of engagement in any political activity over a long period of time, asserting that many parties misused income tax exemption criteria enjoyed by them.

"It is a very good decision as there are many parties which have been found to be totally inactive, and in last 10 -12 years, they did not engage in any political activity. While they have collected money and benefited by income tax exemption. Therefore, they should be scrutinised and this decision taken by election commission is a welcome step," he said.

"There are many more parties which have not contested any election and they should be deregistered, but unfortunately, the Election Commission does not have power to deregister any party which we have been demanding for a long time. There should be an electoral reform by an act of parliament," he added

The Election Commission of India (EC) will soon write to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) informing it about its decision to delist 200-odd political parties. A list containing details of the delisted parties will also form part of the communique that the EC will send to the CBDT in "the next few days" for action.

These political parties, many of which, EC officials suspect, could be nothing but money-laundering operations, are parties which have not contested any election since 2005 and exist mostly on paper.