Amidst the ongoing ‘Vande Mataram’ in the Parliament and the heated political debate regarding the Constitution, the Election Commission has taken an important administrative step. The Election Commission has written a letter to all the registered political parties of the country, asking for a brand new and revised copy of their ‘Party Constitution’. The Commission has given an ultimatum of 30 days to all the parties for this. The Commission says that this step has been taken to bring transparency in the electoral system and to streamline the democratic process within the parties. But in political circles, this step is also being seen as an investigation into the ideology of the parties and their written rules.
The Election Commission has made it clear to all the parties that whatever documents they submit will not be kept confidential. The Commission plans to upload the constitution of every party on the official website of the Election Commission (eci.gov.in). The Commission has written in its letter, the party constitution is an important document which contains information related to the objectives and procedures of the party. This is necessary for the smooth functioning of the party in a democratic manner. All party members and the general public should be aware of this. This simply means that now the public will be able to know at one click what are the internal rules of the party for which they are voting. How does it choose its president? And what are its basic objectives?
Legal entanglement: Reference to Section 29A
In its letter, the Election Commission has made special mention of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RP Act, 1951). Under Section 29A (1) and (5), when a party is registered, it is required to furnish a copy of its rules and regulations. Under this section, parties have to take an oath to have true faith in the Constitution of India, socialism, secularism and democracy.
The Commission has issued this instruction using the powers granted under Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 29A (6) of the RP Act. The Commission says that it is the responsibility of the parties to inform the Commission about every small and big change made in their constitution, but many times the updated copies do not reach the Commission.
its meaning
Although this letter from the Election Commission is part of an administrative process, its timing is important. From Parliament to the streets, debates are going on on ‘Vande Mataram’, ‘Secularism’ and ‘Constitution’. In such a situation, this step of the Election Commission will ensure whether the parties are following the values in their written constitution which they claim on the platforms? Is the same democratic process being followed in the internal functioning of the parties, which they insist on? The Commission believes that to strengthen the electoral system, it is necessary that all parties strictly follow the provisions of their own Constitution.
What has to be done within 30 days?
As per the instructions of the Election Commission, all national and regional parties will have to submit the ‘latest updated copy’ of their party constitution. If any amendment has been made recently, a copy will have to be sent after including it. This process will have to be completed within the next 30 days. The Commission has also shared a dedicated link for this (https://www.eci.gov.in/constitution-of-political-party), where in future all these documents will be available to the general public. This is being considered a big step towards making ‘internal democracy’ transparent in Indian politics.
