EC derecognises Nagaland People’s Council

Explaining the rationale behind the withdrawal of recognition, the EC said political parties, especially the recognised ones had to act to carry forward the democratic process. “The Commission has, therefore, consistently and firmly tried to curb this tendency of boycott of elections by any political party.”

Problems in the political domain have to be resolved in the political arena itself and sorted out democratically through the electoral process, the EC observed in its order.

Meanwhile, the Nagaland People’s Council will no longer be entitled to continued recognition as a state party in Nagaland not entitled to theexclusive use of the symbol “Cock” earlier reserved for it in the state of Nagaland.

With the EC’s decision, the NPC will now be a registered, unrecognised political party till its poll performance is again reviewed whenever the next general elections are held.

Under the EC Elections Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, political parties are accorded recognition in a state if they have been engaged in political activity for a continuous period of five years or fulfil certain other criteria regarding the number of seats they have in the Assembly, or they manage to fetch not less than 4 per cent of the total number of valid votes polled by all contesting candidates. In the February 1998 general elections, after reviewing the poll performance of different parties in the state, the EC found that the NPC did not fulfil the criteria for recognition and sent off a show-cause notice to the party.

The NPC in its reply argued that not only the NPC, but the BJP and the Nationalist DemocraticMovement, also a registered party, had not participated in the elections.

The NPC’s argument that it had secured a very high percentage of votes for over 30 years from 1964 to 1995, did not cut any ice with the Commission. The EC also rejected the NPC’s argument that the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab and the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference had boycotted elections in 1991-92.

When the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and Shirmani Akali Dal (Mann) boycotted the elections in 1992, they were de-recognised by the EC, the Commission said. Similarly, the J&K People’s Conference also lost recognition because it did not participate in the 1996 elections in Kashmir.