I-T department conducts pan-India raids against unrecognised political parties, linked funding

NEW DELHI: The income tax department on Wednesday launched raids in multiple states as part of a tax evasion probe against registered unrecognised political parties (RUPP) and their alleged dubious funding, official sources said.

The searches are being conducted in Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and some other states, they said.

A coordinated action has been launched by the tax department against the RUPPs, their linked entities, operators and others, the sources said.

The surprise action is understood to have been taken by the department on the recommendation of the Election Commission (EC) which recently struck off 87 entities from its list of RUPP after they were found non-existent during physical verification.

The poll panel had announced that it was taking action against more than 2,100 registered unrecognised political parties for flouting rules and election laws, including those related to filing of monetary contributions, failing to update their address and names of office bearers.

It had said some of these parties were indulging in "serious" financial impropriety.