The Legal Aspects Of Forming A Political Party

INTRODUCTION

Political parties play a pivotal role in the functioning of a democracy, particularly during the electoral process. They are instrumental in fostering awareness among voters, keeping the nation politically engaged, and stimulating interest in political issues, thereby drawing attention to significant societal challenges. To achieve these objectives, political parties engage in extensive educational activities, disseminate political literature, and publish election manifestos to present their performance and policy proposals to the electorate.
In the weeks leading up to the polls, political parties engage in widespread propaganda campaigns and mobilize their volunteers to conduct door-to-door canvassing, aiming to inform voters about their party's stance and encourage participation in the electoral process. On the day of the election, parties work to persuade voters to cast their ballots and provide guidance on the voting process.
Following the announcement of election results, each party selects its leader to serve in the legislature. The party that secures an absolute or clear majority typically forms the government, while a coalition government is established if no single party achieves an absolute majority. Parties that do not secure a government position often act as the opposition, scrutinizing the policies of the ruling party within the legislative body. This leads to vigorous debates on legislative proposals, including bills and the budget, with each party articulating its position. Members of various parties either support or oppose these legislative initiatives based on the directives of their party leaders.
Furthermore, the policies and agendas of all parties, both within the legislature and outside, are widely disseminated through media channels. This not only enhances public awareness but also serves as a valuable educational tool, providing citizens with a comprehensive understanding of local, provincial, national, and international political issues, thereby enriching their political literacy. Despite criticisms, political parties have undeniably played a crucial role in the advancement and fortification of democratic institutions.
In the absence of political parties, governing within a parliamentary and presidential framework becomes significantly challenging. Independent candidates, elected without the structure and discipline provided by parties, lack commitment to specific policies or programs. Consequently, the formation of a cabinet and the support for legislative initiatives become arduous tasks for the head of state. Similarly, in a presidential system, the absence of parties complicates the President's ability to manage the administration effectively, particularly without the backing of the legislature. Thus, the efficient functioning of the government is compromised.
Bryce posits that political parties are an essential component of any democratic society. He argues that no free nation has operated without them, and no one has demonstrated an alternative method for representative governance. Parties, he contends, introduce order from the perceived chaos of a diverse electorate. While acknowledging that parties may have drawbacks, Bryce believes they also mitigate and prevent certain evils.
MacIver concurs, stating that without parties, there is no cohesive policy framework, a systematic approach to policy evolution, regular parliamentary elections, or the recognized institutions through which parties seek to gain and maintain power.
Lowell eloquently notes that the ideal of a government by the entire populace in a large nation is, by definition, unattainable. This is because, in any jurisdiction where the electorate is broad, parties are inevitable, and the real power lies with the party that commands a majority or a substantial approximation thereof.
While both bi-party and multi-party systems are crucial for the preservation of democracy, a one-party system is entirely ineffective. This is due to the potential for the emergence of dictatorship, as seen in the absence of opposition parties often leads to the establishment of a government's dictatorship. The lack of opposition parties undermines the protection of democracy. Historical examples, such as the one-party systems under Hitler in Germany and Italy, illustrate this point.
In contemporary times, one-party systems persist in Communist countries like the Soviet Union, China, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, Finland, among others. In nations devoid of political parties, either absolute monarchy or military dictatorship has taken root. This underscores the critical role of opposition parties in safeguarding democracy.

BASES OF POLITICAL PARTIES

In the absence of political parties, governing within a parliamentary and presidential framework becomes significantly challenging. Independent candidates, elected without the structure and discipline provided by parties, lack commitment to specific policies or programs. Consequently, the formation of a cabinet and the support for legislative initiatives become arduous tasks for the head of state. Similarly, in a presidential system, the absence of parties complicates the President's ability to manage the administration effectively, particularly without the backing of the legislature. Thus, the efficient functioning of the government is compromised.
Bryce posits that political parties are an essential component of any democratic society. He argues that no free nation has operated without them, and no one has demonstrated an alternative method for representative governance. Parties, he contends, introduce order from the perceived chaos of a diverse electorate. While acknowledging that parties may have drawbacks, Bryce believes they also mitigate and prevent certain evils. MacIver concurs, stating that without parties, there is no cohesive policy framework, a systematic approach to policy evolution, regular parliamentary elections, or the recognized institutions through which parties seek to gain and maintain power.
Lowell eloquently notes that the ideal of a government by the entire populace in a large nation is, by definition, unattainable. This is because, in any jurisdiction where the electorate is broad, parties are inevitable, and the real power lies with the party that commands a majority or a substantial approximation thereof.
While both bi-party and multi-party systems are crucial for the preservation of democracy, a one-party system is entirely ineffective. This is due to the potential for the emergence of dictatorship, as seen in the absence of opposition parties often leads to the establishment of a government's dictatorship. The lack of opposition parties undermines the protection of democracy. Historical examples, such as the one-party systems under Hitler in Germany and Italy, illustrate this point.
In contemporary times, one-party systems persist in Communist countries like the Soviet Union, China, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, Finland, among others. In nations devoid of political parties, either absolute monarchy or military dictatorship has taken root. This underscores the critical role of opposition parties in safeguarding democracy.

CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATIONS

Though the Constitution did not mention political parties until the 52nd amendment in 1985, some organized political parties were already operating. Freedom of association as a fundamental right was all that the Constitution provided for. According to Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act (1951), associations and bodies of individual citizens can register themselves with the Election Commission as political parties. Political parties are only mentioned in Tenth Schedule to the Constitution which was inserted by the Constitution (52nd Amendment) Act, 1985 for examining disqualification due to defection from party on becoming a member of either house of Parliament or look out for membership eligibility criteria under Legislative Assembly/Legislative Council in any state. However, till date, no law exists regarding formation, registration procedures or dealing with political party operations or their rules and regulations.
According to the rules specified in the Election Symbols (Reservation and allotments) Order, 1968, political parties are given recognition as national or state parties by the Election Commission for very limited purpose of allocation of symbols. This is a symbol-only provision. For this reason, there has been a drastic variation between 14 and 4 party being recognized as a national party in different times due to constant evaluation of their performance at elections held at different times.

The Present Scenario
The changeover of party system since independence indicates how earlier one party-dominated systems have now become complex multi-party systems primarily because there are strong trends towards fragmentation, factionalism and regionalism as well as a growing desire to form alliances that would give them a share of power. This is why ‘hung’ Houses were formed after last few general elections. Another key aspect affecting the party system is the birth of coalition politics. There has been an increasing trend towards organizing voters around social divisions based on religion or caste resulting into sharp increase in political mobilization by the electorate lately. Casteism, communalism and dominance of individuals have been major pillars upon which political party fragmentation has occurred. Such feelings have always been manipulated by political parties seeking support from voters. These changes have necessitated a need for a review of how political parties work, their role and performance within Indian polity and Constitution context.
Political parties in India are openly caste or religion-based, while many of them are family fiefdoms famous for cronyism. In August 2020, 23 senior Indian National Congress leaders sent an open letter to party’s acting president Sonia Gandhi, demanding sweeping changes within the party. Among others, the open letter also called for there to be a “full time and effective leadership” within the party as well so elections to the Congress Working Committee and urgent establishment of an “institutional mechanism for leadership” to guide collectively the revival of the party. It should be noted that Article 19(1)(c) granted the right to form cooperatives as fundamentals rights by inserting them, inter alia, under The Constitution (Ninety-Seventh) Amendment Act, 2011. This amendment was partially quashed by a 2:1 majority judgment from the Supreme Court in July 2021 but what is amazing is that there is no constitutional provision dealing with any “right to form political parties” or regulating their functioning. Consequently, constitutionalising political parties is inevitable for democracy’s effective functioning in India.

Political Parties and Constitutional Extremities
Political parties represent citizens in government, either as ruling members or in opposition.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar said this to the Indian Constituent Assembly when he concluded his speech:
"A Constitution can provide only the organs of State like Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The people and their political parties will be responsible for the working of these organ systems through which they express themselves."
These political parties had not been regulated at all by persons who make up the Constituent Assembly yet; on the contrary, it was party politics that generated the Constitution since the Indian National Congress guided the country's liberation movement.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTY FORMATION

Representation of the People Act, 1951
It is, indeed, the primary law governing political parties in India. It lays down procedure and eligibility criteria involved in registration, recognition and functioning of political parties. Some key points include:

• Eligibility to Register: In order to register as a political party, a memorandum of association specifying rules and regulations for running the party’s activities or a declaration showing that one is loyal to the constitution, must be submitted along with a list of office bearers.
• Recognition: A national or state recognition is given to a party that meets particular criteria such as contesting elections and having at least some minimum votes/seats. Recognized parties also have certain benefits like reserved election symbols among others which are given to them at no cost during campaigning time.
• Internal Democracy: It is necessary for all registered political parties to conduct internal elections after every few years or so and uphold democratic principles in their structures.
• Financial Transparency: Political parties shall keep proper records of their income as well as expenditure; auditors’ reports should be presented from time to time while compliance with the law on funding/donations is observed all along.

The ECI is the Election Commission of India (Political Parties) chief authority for elections and political parties in the country. It oversees party registration; inquiries into complaints, and ensures adherence to the Act.

The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968
The distribution of election symbols among political parties is governed by this Order. Recognized parties are eligible for reserved symbols; however, unreserved symbols can be allocated to others on a first-come-first served basis.

Other Relevant Legislation
There are restrictions on foreign funding to political parties as per the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.
The Prevention Of Corruption Act of 1988 has aspects dealing with bribery and corruption issues within political parties. 
The Companies Act 2013 is applicable in any corporation associated with a political party ensuring transparency in money matters. 

Legal Considerations of Political Parties
A plethora of legal matters ought to be tackled in the creation of political parties aside from the fundamental requirements.

• Anti-Defection Law: No elected representative can leave their party without prejudice according to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
• Foreign Funding: The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act prohibits political parties from accepting any foreign funding so as to avoid any foreign interference in national politics.
  Election Symbols: The ECI provides election symbols for recognized parties, giving them a unique identity during elections.
• Internal democracy: The party constitution should promote internal democracy through regular elections, fair representation and shared decision-making procedures.
• Transparency and Accountability: Political parties have many obligations for transparency and accountability, which include the disclosures of finances, assets, and liabilities of office bearers.

FINANCIAL AND FUNDING REGULATIONS

Across the world, political parties require cash to communicate with the voters, education on their policies and eliciting feedback from the public. And, to the same effect, parties engage in political party funding. This funding h as its main source from voluntary contributions from people and organizations. In addition to this, corporates make big donations to parties in various forms of occasions. The other is foreign aid which is rare in the arid zones of Kenya despite the fact that it is social capital. 

What is Political Funding? 
Political funding can be defined as the process of logistical means that political institutions employ to source for funds to finance their campaigns besides other political activities. Political party requires finances to sell itself, its goals and plans to elect people into position for itself. 

Statutory Provisions 
Section 29B of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) gives parties the permission for receiving voluntary contributions by any person or a company other than a Government Company. According to the RPA Section 29C anyone who intends to donate to any political parties is required to declare any contribution they wish to make that is above twenty thousand rupees. Such a declaration is made by making a report and the same is filed with the EC. If this is not done on time a party loses its claim to tax relief in terms of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The ways that Indian Political Parties can use to raise the funds 

• Individual Persons: Pursuant to section 29B RPA political parties are authorized to accept any amount of contribution given by any individual person.
• State/Public Funding: Here, the rationale is that the government makes funds available to parties, for the general expense incurred in election. State Funding is of two types:State Funding is of two types:
• Direct Funding: Government funds are also direct funded where they directly offer themselves to the political parties. It may be noted that direct funding by tax is not allowed in India.
• Indirect Funding: It also consists of other forms of support but excluded direct financial support in the form of free of charge media access, access to other public facilities for conducting rallies among other things free or discounted transport facilities. It is legal in India to a certain extent and this is with the intending of filing regulation.
• Corporate Funding: In India, the provisions regarding donation by the corporate bodies are eased out under the Companies Act, 2013. Section 182 of the Act provides that: 

For a a company to manage to contribute to a political party it must have been in existence for a minimum of three years. Companies can donate up to 7% of their employees gross remuneration for African employees as a deduction from their gross remuneration and levy 7% of the gross remuneration of expatriate employees for the same cause. Taken to be five per cent of average net profits earned in three similar preceding years. The contributions which are required to be made in such cases must be included in the company’s profit and loss account. For the contribution, the Board of Directors has to approve it. 
If a company contravenes said provisions it will be liable to a fine which will be a multiple of five times the amount that was contributed and each officer of the company who is in default will face imprisonment for a term which may not exceed six months. 
Note: The government has ended the restriction of the number of recruitments of 7. Five percent (7. 5 percent) on corporate accountability and transparency especially on corporate contributions to the political parties through the Finance Act, 2017. The same Act also relieved the company of having to declare such contribution in the company’s profit and loss account.

• Electoral Trusts: A non-profit company formed in India particularly for the systematic acceptance of voluntary

contribution from any person including an individual or a domestic company. 
As per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India the electoral trusts formed after January 2013 have to disclose the amount received and spent. 
According to the Central Government rules, these firms are bound to contribute 95% of total income for registered political parties in a financial year. 

Issues with Political Funding 

• The biggest drawback of the corporate funding is the utilization of shell companies in laundering black money.
• Interference of individuals and firms in the parties which they finance. 

There are several loopholes in Indian rules, for the sake of which political parties go to the extent to avoid any kind of reporting. The sources of funding remain more concealed and therefore make more spending of funds in election campaigns affecting the economy of the country.

POCA

Sometimes one gets a question arises as to whether a political contribution might be construed as being a ‘bribe’. The Indian Legislation known as the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (“POCA”) prohibits acceptance of ‘bribe’ by a ‘public servant’ or by any other individual with a view of influencing the ‘public servant’. In addition, the public servant should have favored or disfavored such person. Therefore, under POCA, one will have to show how there is a direct link between the political contribution made by the spender and the acts of one or more public servants in doing that act which is considered reckless and against the public interest with the(er) intention to give the spender an unfair advantage. As was seen earlier, the absence of such nexus means an allegation under POCA cannot be sustained.
Another question is whether the issuance of an industry wide Government policy at round the time that the political contribution was made by an industry player who also benefits from such policy will amount to violating This sort of allegation can succeed only if the industry wide policy itself is bad in law. An act done by a donor that enjoys a legitimate policy that covers all the industries is not a wrong. This in itself gives rise to a wrong for either the policy is bad and set aside for that reason, or the donor receives something under the policy which but for such policy, he would not receive. 

Foreign Contributions
The Representation of the People Act of 1951 and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010 have prohibited political parties from accepting donations from a ‘foreign source’ by altering the definition in 2016 However, companies in India that are subject to the foreign investment up to the limit allowed by the foreign exchange law and regulations even more than 50% are not recognized as ‘foreign source’. This, such companies can now make political contribution under section 182 of Companies Act. 

Donor Anonymity 
As section 182 of the Companies Act has removed the necessity of declaring the recipient political party in the P&L account, there is an existence of another section through which political parties are bound to provide particulars about the amount received by them in the forma of political contributions every fiscal year to the ECI. This submission is public. Thus, even in the light of the provision in section 182 of the Companies Act, the amount together with other details of the contributor as well as the identity of the political parties to which contributions were made, shall be in the public domain.

Electoral Bonds 
To remove the possibility of any kind of issues including anonymity of the donors in case along with other possibilities, government has notified Electoral Bonds Scheme on 02/01/2018. Electoral bonds are these bonds which are of bearer category where an eligible donor can purchase it through cheque / demand draft or other electronic modes. Electoral bonds also do not mention the name of the buyer and remains in circulation for only 15 days from the date of issuance. The above bonds may be delivered to anyone – other than a political party or an office bearer thereof – on purchase to the eligible political parties, which, inter alia, means a registered political party that has obtained at least one per cent of the votes polled in the last Lok Sabha or any legislative assembly elections. There will be a political account that participates with an authorized bank where the political party can encash it. At the present, Government of India has only authorized State Bank of India for issuing electoral bonds. 
Electoral bonds maintain the identity of the donor because no link can be made between the bond and the donor by the Government or the Authorized Bank or even any other individual once the bond has been bought and handed over. Owing to the recent controversy in the identification of the serial numbers on the bond, the Ministry of Finance has clarified that the serial numbers on the bond instrument are not recorded by the Government/ issuing bank and hence cannot be used to identify the donnor or the buyer. 
Available records revealed that within 10 days of the launch of the Electoral Bond Scheme in March 2018, electoral bonds amounting to Rs. 222 crores were sold. But the electoral trusts that went directly to the political parties during the year 2016-17 amounted to a mere Rs. 325 crores. This point to building trust in legitimacy and validity of the electoral bonds as an instrument to engage in political process in India.

Recent Steps Taken
In march of 2018 the indian government made what is considered a pivotal change to the foreign contribution regulation act of 2010 which enabled foreign entities to contribute to political parties of India.
The government made the Electoral Bond Scheme notified on 02.01.2018 with an aim to put structure and order in the system of political funding in the country.
An electoral bond is of the nature of a bearer instrument similar to a Promissory Note. It is available to any citizen of India or anybody incorporated in India for donating to the political party of his or her choice. Donor’s name is not there on the bond• No records of the donor is maintained by the bank of India.
These bonds can be utilized for making donations to the political parties which has been mentioned under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the said political parties should have received at least one per cent of the total votes which has been cast in last general election of the House of People or any Legislative Assembly.

ANTI-DEFECTION LAWS

The Anti-defection Law and Party Discipline Inoculated Political Parties Under Anti-Defection Are Constitutional (Fifty-Second) Amendment Act 1985, which forbids crossing the party-line or going against the Party and leads to disqualification as a parliamentarian. Although, said amendment talks of political parties within the ambit of anti-defection; other rules governing their operation do not appear in the Constitution itself.
The statute does not regulate how a political party operates from within itself; section 29A of Representation Of People Act 1951 talks about such things like registering with the election commission among others, it however does not touch on how members must conduct themselves while still within its walls. Moreover, Election Commission has no legal power to reregister any political party that is based in India.

DISSOLUTION AND MERGER OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Fifty-second order to the Constitution saw inclusion of the tenth schedule that is widely known as Anti-Defection Law in India in 1985. Section 2 of the Tenth Schedule sets out particular acts that will be considered defection and cause disqualification from that House; mainly voluntary abjuration of membership plus voting (or failing to vote) contrary to the interests of a party.
Prior to its deletion in 2003, paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule provided that where there is a ‘Split’ within a political party, no member of the House shall be disqualified on grounds of defection laid down by sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule. It also goes on to state in chapter four (Tenth Schedule) that in case of ‘Merger’ between original political parties, no member would lose his/her seat on account of defection as provided for under subparagraph (1) paragraph 2. These two paragraphs have similar objectives and use similar wording.
When this text is read literally, it can be interpreted that ‘agreeing of two-third of the members of the legislature party’ is only a condition to ‘merging of an original political party with another political party’ in that Paragraph 4, and the later assertion about the formation of a new political party / a separate group from such merger. Therefore, only with two-thirds of members in a legislature party approving merger will that count as forming a new political party but not merging into an old one. In situations where there has been no decision made by the original political party about merging or has maintained silence on this issue, then agreeing by two-thirds of legislature party members to merge will not be protected under paragraph four and shall amount to defection under paragraph two.
The merger of the original political party is the condition under subparagraph (1) of Paragraph 4, which applies to the qualifier of 2/3rd members mentioned in subparagraph (2) of Paragraph 4 and not otherwise. This means that it is only when a minimum of 2/3rd members from a legislature party have merged with another political party that we can talk about the merger of an original political party; otherwise, all that has happened is that there has been a merger between two or more groups in a House.
Even though the Court refrained from pronouncing any judgement owing to restraint under Paragraph 7 at that time; it was observed by the Hon'ble High Court of Gauhati in W.K. Singh v. Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly [(1986) 2 Gau LR 91 at page 99] that,
"7…the expression "have agreed to such merger" implies that the merger is first to take place at the party level to which two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned are required to agree for merger being effective in so far as they are concerned. In the instant case the Janata party should have first decided the merger to which at least two-third of the members of the Janata Legislature party must also have agreed."
The Hon’ble Supreme Court in Rajendra Singh Rana v. Swami Prasad Maurya [(2007) 4 SCC 270 at page 298] ruled regarding Paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule as follows:

"38. If a conclusion can be arrived at therefrom that one-third of the legislators have formed a separate group to infer a split or speculate on splitting away from it, this would be against its specific wording. Para 3 mentions two requirements, namely; an original party split and thirdly, a group composed definitely by one-third of members leaving the legislative party itself. According to this reasoning the second limb which is already articulated becomes misguided and impossibly absurd. Such unclear interpretations are to be avoided to avoid awkward situations like conscious avoidance usually found in criminal rulings where no one is clear between verdicts or rulings made during trial. Lastly, it cannot be taken for granted that Parliament utilized any words without purpose including redundant ones. Consequently, we reject that argument implying there is no need for a separate proof showing a fractional split off from the legislature party if there is such a case with regard to original political party.”
According to the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court,absent any evidence demonstrating division of original political party( which was a national party in this case), therefore, Paragraph 3 of Tenth Schedule has been found void of requisite criteria for such split and so the floor-crossing in question amounted to defection. By similar inference from above judgment regarding Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule it can be said that merger of an original political party is a condition necessary for the merger of legislative party to take effect because wording and objectives in both paragraphs are alike.
The term ‘original political party’ means the nationally recognized political party that supported a candidate and not its particular state unit. In this context, Hon'ble Supreme Court-Jagjit Singh vs State Of Haryana [(2006)11 SCC 1 at p 34]-stated that:
“70. …we are of the view that the Speaker is correct. Such a division, if recognized for the purposes of para 3, would defeat the very purpose of the law. The requirement is not the division of the local branch or State wing of original political party but is of the original political party as defined in para 1(c) of the Tenth Schedule read with the Explanation in para 2(1) to the effect that "an elected Member of a House shall be deemed to belong to the political party, if any, by which he was set up as a candidate for election as such Member."
To some extent, the ruling issued by a full bench of judges at Punjab High court in Madan Mohan Mittal v. Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha [(1997) 3 Punj LR 374 (FB)], was set aside by the Supreme Court of India (Jagjit Singh v. State of Haryana [(2006) 11 SCC 1 at page 35]) as follows:
“72…In case of a split one-third Members of State Legislature belonging to that political party must form a group to make the split effective within the State Legislature but it does not lead to the conclusion that Parliament intended to treat the State unit of a political party as a separate entity for purposes of benefiting under para 3. Para 1(c) explaining original political parties and Explanation, given under para 2(1), have already been cited here before themselves. It is clear from just reading these that an elected Member belongs to the same political party which nominates him or her as contestant in such elections for being elected in such capacity such as being member of that party. Therefore, it cannot be held upon this basis that for purposes of splits, it is looked upto the concerned State Legislature party alone. The fact that such an individual is put up by any national party does not amount to saying that events taking place at national level have nothing to do with finding out whether there was a split or not. If a member has been placed there by a national political party, then what matters is whether or not there is any division in that party.”
The 104th Report of the Rajya Sabha, Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee, Home Affairs on the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Bill, 2003 brought to light that Paragraph 3 ought to be deleted because it is not clear at all. There was an ambiguity concerning whether ‘Split’ literally means the portion of an individual in a single Assembly that was in fact divided or to mean splitting that happened outside the House. A similar problem could also be observed regarding Paragraph 4. Moreover, quoting from 170 th report of Law Commission of India on ‘Reform of Electoral Laws, the report stated:
The concept of split and merger may be done away with. Conversely, it is possible to argue that the existing provision of splits cannot be barred because of the absence of internal democracy in political parties today and also due to the fact that satisfactory internal structures for political parties have not been established. However, prohibiting splits would do little to stop an ongoing political process or pluralism within society since there is no bar against splits, mergers and new party formations after the dissolution of Parliament for purposes of realigning forces. Additionally, it should also be noted that paragraph 4 on mergers should be deleted in order to ensure that proper political standards are maintained in the Houses as well as avoiding complications resulting from this merger paragraph. In addition, paragraph 3 (split) and paragraph 4 (merger), which would otherwise become redundant following this removal must be deleted.

CONCLUSION

Firstly, constitutionalizing political parties should remedy the legal gaps in regulating their operations thus de-communalizing these political parties and enhancing their transparency and accountability. In the past, there were proposals to create a National Election Fund that would receive public donations for election purposes which could also lead to greater efficiency in the democratic electoral process.
It is important to have proper laws that prevent criminals from running for office because currently, there are over 2500 sitting Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) and Parliament (MPs) facing criminal charges in our nation as of 2020. There should be electoral reforms such as abolishing the “first past the post system” and by replacing it with a system where a minimum percentage should be required for declaring the winner candidate. Increased public participation along with judicial intervention is also much needed today.

FAQs

• What is Section 29A of the Representation of Peoples Act? 
Section 29A requires that political parties be registered with the Election Commission of India (ECI) and sets out certain eligibility criteria and processes for their being acknowledged.
• For how long does it take to register my party? 
Registration may take time due to various factors like the lengthiness of submitting an application or other factors; however, usually it takes months before confirmation is received after applying depending on whether the application was thorough and ECI's checking procedure.
• What kinds of symbols can a political party have? 
No, symbols are given only to registered parties from an ECI symbol list while non-registered parties may not even use exclusive symbols.
• What are major advantages of registering a political party? 
Registered political parties enjoy an entity status under law hence they have right political party symbols, right to tax holidays and eligibility to contest elections.
• If a political party does not follow the ECI’s rules, what could be the consequences? 
When one party does not conform to ECI’s specifications, it may incur sanctions; these can involve various penalties including fines, deregistration or limitations on taking part in elections.

• Is there any financial advantage to forming a political party? 
Yes, political parties that have been duly registered might qualify for tax exemptions and other financial benefits as long as they adhere to certain mandatory laws and procedures of reporting.