EC seeks power to register parties not contesting polls

Mumbai, June 26 (ANI): Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla on Friday said that the Election Commission of India has demanded a power from the Centre which should authorise it to de-register the political parties not contesting elections.

"We have power to register the party but don't have the power to de-register. We have asked the government for this power," the Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla told reporters here.

CEC said that there are around 1,200 registered parties in the country, half of them don't contest the polls. "That is why in our reform proposals, we have suggested de-registering such parties."

Besides, the Election Commission has also suggested to increase the mandatory deposit amount to contest polls, as it found a huge number of non-serious candidates who contested the recent Lok Sabha polls, Chawla shared with the media.

Citing the instance of Maharashtra, the CEC said: "Too many Independents contested and the Rs 10,000 deposit did not act as a deterrent."

He also mentioned there were also technical difficulties, like provision for names of maximum 16 candidates per electronic voting machine and it was also not feasible to have more than four machines in a booth.

Moreover, the Election Commission has also suggested to the Centre to disallow candidates having criminal charges, Chawla informed. (ANI)