ECI Issues Show-Cause Notices to 127 Political Parties in Uttar Pradesh for Address Irregularities
UP Chief Electoral Office Issues Notices Over Non-Filing of Accounts and Election Expenditure Statements
Lucknow, Sept 23: The Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Office has initiated strict compliance proceedings against 127 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs) across the state, after they repeatedly failed to submit their mandatory financial and expenditure records, despite clear directives from the Election Commission of India (ECI).
According to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa, these political outfits have not filed their annual audited accounts for three consecutive financial years—2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24. In addition, they neglected to submit election expenditure statements for Assembly and Lok Sabha polls conducted between 2019 and 2025. As per statutory provisions, such statements must be submitted within 75 days of Assembly elections and 90 days of Lok Sabha elections, but the parties have defaulted on this requirement as well.
The CEO’s office has now served formal show-cause notices to the defaulting parties, directing their presidents and general secretaries to explain their non-compliance. They have been asked to submit detailed representations, sworn affidavits, and supporting documents no later than October 3, 2025. To ensure transparency, personal hearings have also been scheduled between October 6 and October 9, 2025, beginning daily at 10 a.m. at the CEO’s office in Lucknow.
Rinwa cautioned that parties which fail to respond within the stipulated timeline will be treated as having no explanation to offer. Their names and details will be flagged in an official compliance report to the Election Commission of India, which may recommend further punitive action, including possible deregistration.
To ensure parties are duly informed, the notices have been dispatched via registered post to their recorded addresses. Moreover, in a move to maintain public accountability, a complete list of the concerned parties has been published on both the Election Commission of India’s and the Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh’s websites.
