‘AAP’ accorded National Party Status by Election Commission, NCP, CPI and TMC Off-Track

On April 10, 2023 (Monday), the Election Commission of India updated the list of political parties which are both national as well as state levels. The Aam Aadmi Party has finally earned the prestigious status of a National Party in India. 

The AAP Party is led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Ahead of the 2024 Elections, the Election Commission removed the National Party status of the Communist Party of India, Nationalist Congress Party and the All India Trinamool Congress.

आम आदमी पार्टी पर देश के करोड़ों लोगों की उम्मीद अब विश्वास बन चुकी है। जनता ने बहुत बड़ी ज़िम्मेदारी दी है, प्रभु के आशीर्वाद से हम ये ज़िम्मेदारी भी पूरी ईमानदारी से निभाएँगे। https://t.co/0AIxuKJ8f2

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 11, 2023

In an official notification released by the committee, it read that AAP got a total of 12.92% votes in the general election to the legislative assembly of Gujarat. The results came out after officials evaluated the party’s poll performance.

The AAP Party meets the required criteria of a state party in Gujarat while its recognition already exists in other states like Delhi, Goa and Punjab. There are different advantages for a political party to be acknowledged as a national party. It includes a common party symbol across states, space for a party office in New Delhi and free airtime during elections on public broadcasters.

National Party Eligibility Criteria

According to the administrative body - Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, of 1968, a political party can be recognised as a national party only on the fulfilment of any one of the following conditions -

• First, the party must have at least 6% of votes and be polled in a minimum of 4 or more states in Lok Sabha or Assembly Elections. It should also have at least 4 of its members in the Lok Sabha.
• Second, 2% of the total Lok Sabha seats are required along with candidates who come from not less than 3 states. 
• Lastly, it should at least have a state party status in at least 4 states. 

While AAP meets the third criterion and wins the title, there used to be 8 national parties registered with the Election Commission of India prior to the change made on Monday. These were the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), TMC, the CPI (Marxist), the National People’s Party (NPP) and NCP.

State Party Eligibility Criteria

To be recognised as a state party, the following criteria are required by any political party -

• First, the party secures at least 6% of the votes and acquires at least 2 seats in the Assembly Election. 
• Second, it has obtained at least 6% of the votes polled and holds at least one MP in the Lok Sabha.
• The third criterion is that it should have at least 3% or three MLAs in the assembly, but not less than this.
• Fourth, a minimum of one Lok Sabha member for every 25 assembly members or any division allocated to the state. 
• The last mentioned criterion is at least 8% of the total votes polled in the state in the previous election to the Lok Sabha or State Assembly. 

Before this, there were 58 recognised state parties across India. Similarly, TMC is now left with its state party status in Bengal and Tripura only. Recently, the title ha been taken from the party. The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) has been recognised as a state party in Nagaland whereas the Voice of the People’s Party in Meghalaya and Tipra Motha Party in Tripura.

Moreover, Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh, K Chandrashekar Rao’s Bharat Rashtriya Samiti (Telangana Rashtriya Samithi) and Revolutionary Socialist Party in Bengal have also lost their number in the list of recognised state parties across the nation. 

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