Gs Paper-2
Syllabus: Functions and responsibilities of various constitutional bodies.
Context:
- The Election Commission of India issued an order to nudge the Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs) for ensuring due compliance.
- Chief Electoral Officers were directed to initiate action for enforcing due compliances by RUPPs for relevant sections 29A and 29C of the RP Act 1951.
Registered Unrecognized Political Parties:
- Either newly registered parties or those which have not secured enough percentage of votes in the assembly or general elections to become a state party, or those which have never contested elections since being registered are considered unrecognized parties.
- They do not enjoy all the benefits extended to the recognised parties.
Recognised Political Party:
| National party | State party |
| Secure at least 6% of the valid vote in an Assembly or a Lok Sabha General Election in any four or more states and won at least 4 seats in a Lok Sabha General Election from any State or States | Secure at least 6% of the valid vote & win at least 2 seats in an Assembly General Election |
| Win at least 2% of the total Lok Sabha seats in a Lok Sabha General Election and these seats have to be won from at least 3 states | Secure at least 6% of the valid vote & win at least 1 seat in a Lok Sabha General Election |
| The party is recognized as a State Party in at least four states | Win at least 3% of the seats or at least 3 seats, whichever is more, in an Assembly General Election |
| Win at least 1 out of every 25 seats from a state in a Lok Sabha General Election | |
| Secure at least 8% of the total valid vote in an Assembly or a Lok Sabha General Election |
The recognition granted by the Commission to the parties determines their right to certain privileges like allocation of the party symbols, provision of time for political broadcasts on the state-owned television and radio stations and access to electoral rolls.
Insta Links:
To read about RPA 1951: click here
To read about the Election Commission of India: click here
Practice Questions
Q. Consider the following statements:
- To get recognised as a state political party, it should win at least 3% of the seats or at least 3 seats, whichever is more, in an assembly in the General Election.
- Unrecognized Political parties enjoy all the benefits extended to the recognised parties.
Which of the statements given above is/are not correct:
a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: (b)
Q. Discuss the procedure of recognition of political parties in India (10M)
Source: PIB