India has a multi-party system with a mix of two dominant national parties (INC and BJP) and several small regional parties and national parties. Political parties that wish to contest local, state or national elections are required to be registered by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Registration with ECI does not ensure recognition as a party. A recognized party has more privileges than a registered unrecognized party.[1]
All parties contesting the elections have to choose a symbol from a list of available symbols offered by the EC. All 29 states of the country along with the union territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi have an elected government unless President's rule is imposed under certain conditions.
This listing is based on the notification by Election Commission of India for the Indian general election, 2014 and Legislative Assembly elections.[2][3]
Number of Registered Political Parties
As on 16 September 2014, 1759 was the total number of political parties in India which are registered with the Election Commission of India, in addition to this on 26 September 2014 the Election Commission of India has issued a notice to the Chief Electoral Officers of all States and Union Territories to bring 7 (Seven) more political parties to be taken into the list,[4] which makes the total count of registered political parties to become 1766.
The Election Commission of India allots a unique register number to all the registered political parties in India, the register number of Indian political parties look like this (56/62/2013/PPS-I).
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Total Registered Parties
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1766 [2][3][4]
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National Parties
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3
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State Parties
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57
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Unrecognized Parties
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1706
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National parties
A registered party is recognised as a National Party only if it fulfills any of the following three conditions:[5]
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The party wins 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha (11 seats) from at least 3 different States.
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At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in four States and in addition it wins 4 Lok Sabha seats.
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A party gets recognition as State Party in four or more States.
Both national and state parties have to fulfill these conditions for all subsequent Lok Sabha or State elections. Else, they lose their status.
[1]
Election Commission issued a notice to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) asking an explanation, which has been submitted in time on 27 June 2014. They will be given a chance to explain their defeat in the 2014 polls at the hearing, after which the commission will come up with their decision. The three parties lost 2014's polls with extremely less votes, with none or just a few seats in Lok Sabha, failing to meet at least two of the three EC's criteria under symbol order, which is necessary for national party status.[7]
The outcome of Maharashtra and Haryana elections-2014 will reduce the number of national political parties in the country to just three — the lowest since Independence. Only the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) will enjoy the national status. Due to the regular poor performance of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) in Vidhan Sabha elections and Lok Sabha elections, these parties failed to achieve the national party status criteria and thus may lose their national party status.[8]
State parties
A registered party has to fulfill any of the following conditions for recognition as a State Party:
(i) A political party should secure at least six percent of the total valid votes polled during general election to a State Legislative Assembly and should, in addition, win at least two seats in that Assembly, or the party should win at least three percent of the total number of seats or three seats in the Legislative Assembly, whichever is more;
(ii) Alternatively, a political party should secure at least six percent of the total valid votes polled in a State during a general election to Lok Sabha and win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha from that State, or the party should win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or any fraction thereof allotted to that State.
(iii) Under the liberalized criteria, one more clause has been added to provide that even if a Party fails to win any seat in a State in a general election to the Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly of the State, the party will still be eligible for recognition as State Party if it secures 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the State.[9]
A party recognised in four states gets the status of a National Party. If a party is recognised as a state party by the Election Commission, it can reserve a symbol for its exclusive use in the state. The following are a list of recognised state parties as of 16 September 2014:[2][3]
Source: Election Commission of India [2]
Registered Unrecognized Political Parties
See also
Further reading
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Subrata K. Mitra and V.B. Singh. 1999. Democracy and Social Change in India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Electorate. New Delhi: Sage Publications. ISBN 81-7036-809-X (India HB) ISBN 0-7619-9344-4 (U.S. HB).
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Subrata K. Mitra, Mike Enskat, Clemens Spiess (eds.). 2004. Political Parties in South Asia. Greenwood: Praeger.
Notes
References
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^ a b "Registration of Political Parties". FAQs.
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^ a b c d e f "Names of Recognised National and State Parties, Registered-unrecognised parties".
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^ a b c d "Names of Recognised National and State Parties, Registered-unrecognised parties".
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^ a b c d e f g h i "ECI Notification for Political Parties registered after 16.09.2014 till 26.09.2014".
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^ http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=104537
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^ http://eciresults.ap.nic.in/
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^ http://www.ibtimes.co.in/ncp-cpi-bsp-likely-be-derecognised-national-parties-603536
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^ http://www.hindustantimes.com/specials/coverage/assembly-elections-2014/assemblyelections2014-maharashtra/ncp-bsp-set-to-lose-national-party-status/sp-article10-1277541.aspx
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^ http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=76712
External links
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Data collect from ECI 19-01-2013
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ElectoralLaws-VOL I
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ElectoralLaws-VOL II
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Election Commission of India
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Indian Politician Directory
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JMWT Real Education
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Four parties risk losing national status
Political parties in India
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Current national coalitions
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Former national coalitions
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Recognised national parties
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Recognised state parties
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Other parties in parliament
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Unrecognised parties or
parties with limited presence
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