Recognised problem: Unrecognised political parties doubled in a decade

Only a fraction of the RUPPs declare income and file audit reports

On Tuesday, the Election Commission (ECI) delisted 86 political parties and declared 253 inactive. However, the problem of registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) may persist, as the country will add as many within the next three years. 

In fact, 68 political parties have applied for registration in the last four months alone. A Business Standard analysis found that between 2017 and 2021, India added nearly 1,000 RUPPs—the number went up from 1,983 to 2,796. 

The number of RUPPs has more than doubled from 1,308 in 2011. 

“Since the introduction of the electoral bond scheme, the number of political parties is