Election Commission of India(ECI) to downgrade BSP, Communist Party of India and NCP

There may be over a thousand political parties in India recognised by the Election Commission, but only a handful have the status of national parties

All political parties must register themselves with the poll panel. However, not all parties that are registered with the Commission are recognised by it. They have to fulfil certain criteria to recognition either as a state party or as a national party.

The criteria for recognition are either that the party has been conducting its activities for a continuous period of five years, or that it has got at least 4 per cent of the votes polled in elections to a state assembly or the Lok Sabha in a particular state.

The announcement of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections earlier this year led to a rush to register political parties and the total number of "registered, unrecognised" parties in the country now stands at 1,627.

Earlier 6 political parties had this status, but the BJP's massive victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls could deprive the Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India and Nationalist Congress Party of their national party tag

According to the criteria set by the Election Commission, a national party needs to get at least 6 per cent of the votes from a minimum of four states, or 2 per cent of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three states, or it should be a recognised as a state party in at least four states.

As of now, only -

• BJP
• Congress
• CPI-M
• BSP
• CPI and
• NCP 

are recognised as national parties.

Besides, there are 47 recognised state parties

The ECI has already served show-cause notices to the three parties -BSP,CPI and NCP seeking their stance on why their national party-status should not be withdrawn following their crushing defeat in the polls

The deadline for submitting their replies was June 27,2014

"After receiving the notices, the three parties have submitted their replies. These responses will be examined by the commission," an official of the Election Commission told

The withdrawal of national party-status could have wide-ranging ramifications for the parties.

For example, the parties will no longer be able to use a common symbol while contesting polls across the country. Symbols associated with the NCP, BSP and CPI could become available to candidates from other parties, and this would have an impact on future polls.

Parties without national party-status will also no longer be eligible for availing of facilities like free broadcasts during election campaigns on state-run radio and television and free copies of electoral rolls. 

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BSP

Losing the national party status would be painful for Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, as this is the only privilege she flashes in public meetings across the nation to inform the voters that BSP was among those a few political parties which had pan India presence.

This rank was also valuable for the BSP as the party could contest elections across the country on the same symbol.

Despite the fact that the BSP and elephant are synonymous for each other, Mayawati would lose elephant as her party's election symbol outside Uttar Pradesh.

 

Standing on a solid foundation of 206 seats and 30.43 per cent votes in UP in 2007 assembly elections, the BSP was honoured with the status of a national party in 2009.

Although the BSP got 20 per cent votes in UP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it has lost all seats. Its vote share is less than four per cent in other states.

NCP

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is putting up a brave face in wake of the show-cause notice issued by the Election Commission over withdrawal of its status as a national party. Following the rout in the Lok Sabha polls, the NCP presently does not fit into the eligibility criteria of the the EC for being recognised as a national party.

As per the EC eligibility criteria, the NCP has won six seats in the Lok Sabha, four from Maharashtra, one from Bihar and one from Lakshadweep. Though it qualifies in terms of the minimum four seats, it fails on account of vote percentage which is first part of one of two eligibility criteria. 

The NCP has recorded a vote percentage of less than 6 per cent in four or more states in Lok Sabha. Besides Maharashtra, NCP has representation in assembly of Gujarat (2), Uttar Pradesh (1), Manipur (1), Meghalaya (2) and Nagaland (4).