Election Commission to delist 476 political parties for not contesting elections for 6 years

The announcement comes two days after the poll panel announced on Saturday that it has delisted 334 such RUPPs for not complying with electoral laws and related rules.

“As part of the second round of the exercise, another 476 RUPPs have been identified, which are from different states and UTs across the country. In order to ensure that no party is unduly delisted, the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of the respective states and UTs have been directed to issue show-cause notices to these RUPPs following which, the parties will be given an opportunity through a hearing by the concerned CEOs,” the EC said in a statement.

The maximum number of parties in the current list are from Uttar Pradesh (121), followed by Maharashtra (44), Tamil Nadu (42) and Delhi (41). Fifteen such parties have been identified in Bihar, which is due to hold Assembly elections later this year.