What is the News?
Association for Democratic Reforms(ADR) has released a report titled “Analysis of Donations received by Registered Unrecognised Political Parties”. The report underlines the lack of transparency among Registered Unrecognised Political Parties.

Facts:

What is Registered Unrecognised Political Parties?

If a party satisfies any one of below-mentioned criteria, then they are called Registered Unrecognised Political Parties. The conditions are

• • If the political party is newly registered
  • If the political parties not secured enough percentage of votes in Assembly or General Elections to become a State party
  • Political Parties that never contested in elections since they got registered with the Election Commission.

These parties don’t enjoy all the benefits extended to the recognised parties such as reserving a separate symbol for the party, subsidized land for party office etc.

Key Findings:

• The number of registered unrecognised political parties has increased two-fold from 2010 to 2019. From 1,112 parties in 2010 to 2,301 in 2019.
• State-wise: Of the total of 2,301 registered unrecognised parties, 653 parties or 28.38% belong to Uttar Pradesh. This is followed by Delhi (291 parties or 12.65%) and Tamil Nadu (184 parties or 8%).
• The number of these parties has increased disproportionately during the year of Parliamentary elections between 2018 and 2019.
• Donations: These parties received 90 crores from 12,998 donors in two financial years (2017-18 and 2018-19). Among that, 65.63 crores or 72.88% of the total declared donations belongs to Apna Desh Party of Uttar Pradesh.
• Contributions Report: Only 78 or 3.39% of the total 2,301 registered unrecognised parties donation information is available in the public domain for 2018-19. For 2017-18, the reports are available for only 82 parties or 3.56% of the total registered unrecognised parties.