The Election Commission on Friday announced the reduction of the notice period for the registration of new political parties in the five electoral states from 30 days to 7 days, in view of the difficulties caused by the restrictions induced by the COVID-19.

In a statement, the EC explained that under existing guidelines, a party seeking registration must submit an application to it within 30 days of its formation date.

The applicant is invited to publish the proposed name of the party in two national daily newspapers and two local daily newspapers over two days. Objections, if any, to the proposed party registration must be submitted within 30 days of the publication of the notice.

Noting that it had announced the timetable for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur on January 8, the EC said: “It has been brought to the attention of the Commission that given the restrictions in place due to COVID -19, there have been disruptions and delays in filing applications for registration, which has resulted in a delay in registering as a political party .”

After reviewing all aspects, the Board has granted flexibility and reduced the notice period from 30 days to seven days for parties who have issued their public notice by January 8.

“For all parties, including parties who have already published the public notice less than 7 days before January 8, the objection, if any, may be submitted no later than 5:30 p.m. on January 21, or at the end of the originally scheduled 30 day period, whichever comes first,” the statement read.

The statement noted that in Assembly elections in Bihar, Assam, Kerala, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the Commission had relaxed the notice period in view of the ongoing pandemic.

(Only the title and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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