The Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold Rajya Sabha bypolls on October 4 for six seats, one each in West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and two in Tamil Nadu. By-elections for one seat of the Legislative Council in Bihar will be held on October 4.
On Wednesday, it was reported that the Election Commission has given a new thrust to change the electoral law to get the power to de-register political parties that are inactive and have not contested elections.
A senior Election Commission official had discussed various electoral reforms with Law Minister Kiren Rijiju here last week. PTI report good.
There are several proposals pending with the government on electoral reforms.
While the poll watchdog has the mandate to register a political party, it does not have the power to deregister any party under electoral law.
Its demand to get the power to deregister a party has been pending with the Law Ministry for years.
At one point, the poll panel had identified various parties that had not contested elections since 2005 and ‘delisted’ more than 200 of them.
The Election Commission suspects that most of them are on paper to help people launder their past money by accepting donations.
With its demand to get the power to deregister a party pending with the government, the Commission had in the past used its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution to make parties remain inactive and not contest elections for a long time.
The commission has proposed several electoral reforms to check the flow of black money in elections.
There are about 3000 registered political parties, including eight recognized as national parties and 53 recognized as state parties.
Don’t miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint.
download
Our App Now!!
.