Meghalaya: KHNAM gears up to contest ECI’s show cause

Correspondent

Shillong: The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM), which has been slapped with a show cause notice, is bracing to make its case before the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Shillong. KHNAM working president Thomas Passah asserted, “We have seen the showcause, we have already prepare our reply which we will be submitting to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office and in the letter we have also mentioned that we have communicated to the ECI through the office of the CEO Meghalaya on the position of the party multiple times. We have the copy of the letter, we will be submitting the copy of the letter as a proof of our initiatives to keep the party updated informed with the Election Commission of India.”

Passah made it clear that the party is following due process as mandated. “The Election Department has told us to submit a representation, along with an affidavit and along with documents and that we are doing. And we are writing to ECI Delhi through CEO Meghalaya right from 2022 till date we have been updating our email address, ID, office address as asked by the CEO,” he stated.

Taking head-on the rationale cited in the notice, Passah pointed to internal turbulence. “The reason they have given is that we have not contested elections for the last six years. The fact is known to everybody because of the internal dispute within the party we couldn’t contest the elections in 2023. That is the only reason why the party couldn’t contest 2023 Assembly elections, but however the party has been very active, have been receiving multiple letters from various departments of the government, we have been attending meeting,” he said, underlining that KHNAM remains politically functional.

As per the directives of the Election Commission of India (ECI), CEO BDR Tiwari has issued showcause notices to four registered unrecognized political outfits which, according to records, have ceased to function in Meghalaya. The parties include the Khun Hynñiewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM), Meghalaya Democratic Party (MDP), North East Social Democratic Party (NESDP) and Regional Democratic Secular Congress (RDSC). The notices were issued on August 19.

Under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, political party registration is a statutory mandate intended to facilitate electoral participation. However, based on ECI’s records, these parties have failed to set up candidates in any parliamentary, assembly or bye-elections for six years since 2019, thereby ceasing to function as political parties in the spirit of the Act.

The Commission has now proposed to delist these parties from its official register. Before initiating such punitive action, it has provided an opportunity for written submissions along with affidavits and supporting documentation from the parties’ president or general secretary by August 26, 2025.

The ECI has also fixed a personal hearing on September 2, 2025, to be attended by the President, General Secretary, or party head. In the event of non-response or absence, the Commission has categorically warned that it will proceed with delisting action in accordance with established guidelines, without further reference to the parties concerned.

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