Chennai: Anna, MGR, Jayalalithaa Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, New Generation Makkal Katchi, Tamil Telugu Desiya Katchi are among the fifteen parties that registered with the Election Commission of India between February and March.
A recent data from the Election Commission of India has stated that the country at present has 2,293 parties which include the seven recognised national parties and 59 recognised state parties.
Till February this year, the country had 2,143 political parties registered with the Commission, with 58 of them getting registered ahead of the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh during November-December last year.
It is said around 150 parties including the 15 from Tamilnadu were registered in the poll panel between February and March on the eve of the announcement of the poll schedule.
These parties will be recognised based on the vote percentage that they get in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. These registered but unrecognised political parties cannot contest elections on a fixed symbol of their own. They have to choose from a list of free symbols issued by the poll panel. According to the latest EC circular, there are 84 such free symbols available currently.
Fearing misuse of the provisions for financial contributions to political parties, the Election Commission had in 2016 asked the Central Board of Direct Taxes to look into the finances of 255 registered but unrecognised political parties it had ‘unlisted’ that year for not contesting polls in the last one decade between 2005 and 2015.
There have been fears that most of such parties are used to ’round trip’ the black money into white. The EC had found that some of the parties were ‘no longer in existence or functioning’.
While the poll watchdog has the mandate to register a political party, the electoral laws denies it the power to deregister any party. With its demand to get power to deregister a party being pending with the Law Ministry, the Commission had used its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution to ‘unlist’ parties for being dormant and not contesting elections for a long time.
| Some of the available free symbols are: |
| CCTV Computer mouse Computer Helicopter Spanner Switch board Tubelight Water tank Pen drive Robot Ship Rubber Stamp |
| The 15 parties recently registered in TN |
| Tamilnadu Ilaingar Katchi (Porur) Makkal Vidudhalai Katchi (Mugappair) Akila Indiya Pasumpon Munnetra Kazhagam (Tirunelveli) Anna, MGR, Jayalalithaa Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Kumbakonam) Tamil Telugu Desiya Katchi (Vilupuram) Makkal Munnetra Seyal Katchi (Kodambakkam) Makkal Masodha Katchi (Nagapattinam) Oozhal Edhirpu Iyakka Katchi (Tiruvallur) Tamil Maanila Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (Vellore) Anaithindiya Makkal Sakthi Kazhagam (Ernavoor) Swathanthira Katchi(Makkal) (Alwarpet) Vivasayigal Makkal Munnetra Katchi (Salem) Anaithindiya Makkal Katchi (Krishnagiri) Desiya Uzhavar Uzhaipalargal Kazhagam (Vellore) New Generation Makkal Katchi (Coimbatore) |