SHILLONG, Oct 14: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has delisted three political parties from Meghalaya for failing to contest any election conducted by the Commission for six consecutive years. The three Meghalaya-based parties include the Meghalaya Democratic Party, the North East Social Democratic Party, and the Regional Democratic Secular Congress.
The move comes as part of a nationwide exercise in which 474 registered unrecognised political parties have been struck off the official list of registered parties.
According to the ECI, these parties violated the condition under Para 3 (xxiii) of the Guidelines for Registration of Political Parties issued under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which mandates that every registered political party must contest at least one election within five years of registration. Failure to do so continuously for six years results in automatic removal from the list of registered parties, it said.
The ECI clarified that the delisted entities may appeal against the order within 30 days.
