Owaisi’s AIMIM among 191 parties deregistered by Maharashtra State EC

“The political parties registered with the State Election Commission are given precedence while allotting election symbols. Parties not registered will not be able to contest elections as a party with a symbol and can field candidates only as independents if they want,” said an EC official. He, however, added that the EC may reconsider registering the parties again if they submit the required documents and pay a penalty.

As per norms, to maintain transparency in elections and ensure that there is no disproportionate money power that can interfere with the polls, the political parties are required to submit their audited annual accounts and income tax filings to the State Election Commission.

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There are 359 parties registered with the EC, of which, 326 failed to submit these documents as required. The EC has sent several notices to these defaulters in different stages, prompting many of them to submit the documents.

“However, despite repeatedly sending notices and giving time extensions, 191 political parties still failed to submit their income tax documents and audited accounts,” J S Saharia, State Election Commissioner, said.

Imtiyaaz Jaleel, an AIMIM legislator, said his party is yet to receive any formal correspondence, saying it has been deregistered.

“We had received a letter from the State Election Commission four months ago stating we had not submitted out audited accounts and questioning why we should not be deregistered. The next day, our team from Hyderabad promptly submitted these papers. We are surprised to hear this news,” Jaleel said. He added that the AIMIM would contest the decision and plans to participate in the civic polls.

The AIMIM, which has two members in the state legislative assembly, has been seen as a spoiler for the Congress and a party that can potentially snatch its Muslim vote-share at a time when it is already beleaguered due to consecutive electoral failures and internal poltics.

To strengthen its roots in Mumbai, the AIMIM had also fielded a candidate for a bypoll to the Bandra East, which has a large Muslim population, in a high-pitched campaign against the Shiv Sena and the Congress leader Narayan Rane, and was actively looking to participate.