The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, lays down the criteria for declaring any registered political party as a national party or a state party
As per the order, a registered political party needs to fulfil at least one of the three conditions to become a national party
- Under the first condition, a political party needs to win minimum 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha (11 seats) from at least three different states
- Another way of gaining national party status is by polling at least 6% of votes in four states in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, in addition to winning four Lok Sabha seats
- A political party may also secure recognition as national party if it is recognised as a state party in four or more states.
Notably, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress became a national party in 2016 through the third route. By August 2016, Trinamool was a recognised state party in West Bengal, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. Interestingly, the BSP too became a national party for the first time in 2001 in a similar manner. At the time, BSP was already a recognised state party in four states: Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, the party won over six percent of votes in these states during the Assembly elections.
There are 7 political parties with the tag of national party:
- Bharatiya Janata Party
- Indian National Congress
- Communist Party of India
- Communist Party of India (Marxist)
- Nationalist Congress Party
- Bahujan Samaj Party and
- Trinamool Congress.
In 2010, Rashtriya Janata Dal, led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, lost its national party status after performing poorly in Jharkhand, where it used to be recognised as a state party. However, CPM, CPI and NCP were also at the risk of losing their national party tag after failing to perform well in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, they received a respite after the Election Commission decided to review performances of political parties on a 10 year-basis in 2016.
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