List of political parties in India
India has a multi-party system. The Election Commission of India (ECI) accords recognition to the national level and the state level political parties based upon objective criteria. A recognised political party enjoys privileges like a reserved party symbol,[lower-alpha 1] free broadcast time on state-run television and radio, consultation in the setting of election dates, and giving input in setting electoral rules and regulations. Other political parties that wish to contest local, state or national elections are required to be registered by the Election Commission of India. Registered Parties are upgraded as recognised National Party or State Party by the ECI if they meet the relevant criteria after a Lok Sabha or State legislative assembly election. The Recognised Party status is reviewed periodically by the ECI.
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Before the amendment in 2016 (came into force with effect from 1 January 2014), if a political party failed to fulfill the criteria in the subsequent Lok Sabha or state legislative assembly election, they lost their status as a recognised Party. In 2016, the ECI announced that such a review would take place after two consecutive elections instead of every election. Therefore, a political party shall retain the recognised Party status even if they do not meet the criteria in the next election. However, if they fail to meet the criteria in the subsequent election following the next election, they would lose their status.
As per latest publication dated 23 September 2021 from Election Commission of India, the total number of parties registered was 2858, with 8 national parties, 54 state parties and 2797 unrecognised parties.[3] All registered parties contesting elections need to choose a symbol from a list of available symbols offered by the EC. All 28 states of the country along with the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Puducherry have elected governments unless President's rule is imposed under certain conditions.
National parties
A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfils any one of the three conditions listed below:[4]
- The party win 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states.[5]
- At a general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in any four or more states and in addition it wins four Lok Sabha seats.
- The party gets recognition as a state party in four states.
Party | Flag | Abbr. | Political position |
Ideology | Founded | National status accorded | Leader(s) | Election symbol |
No. of States Ruled | Seats in Lok Sabha |
Seats in Rajya Sabha |
Seats in State Assemblies |
Seats in State Councils | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All India Trinamool Congress English: All India Grassroots Congress |
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AITC | Centre-left | Secularism Populism Progressivism |
1 January 1998 | 2 September 2016 | Mamata Banerjee (Chairperson) |
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1 / 31 |
22 / 543 |
13 / 245 |
235 / 4,036 |
0 / 426 | |
Bahujan Samaj Party English: Majority Community Party |
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BSP | Centre-left | Social equality Social justice Secularism Self-respect Human Rights |
14 April 1984 | 26 January 2013[6] | Mayawati (President) |
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0 / 31 |
10 / 543 |
3 / 245 |
8 / 4,036 |
6 / 426 | |
Bharatiya Janata Party English: Indian People's Party |
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BJP | Right-wing[7] | Hindutva Integral humanism Conservatism Social conservatism |
6 April 1980 | J. P. Nadda (President) |
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19 / 31 |
301 / 543 |
101 / 245 |
1,411 / 4,036 |
110 / 426 | ||
Communist Party of India | ![]() |
CPI | Left-wing | Communism Marxism–Leninism |
26 December 1925 | D. Raja (General Secretary) |
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0 / 31 |
2 / 543 |
2 / 245 |
21 / 4,036 |
2 / 426 | ||
Communist Party of India (Marxist) | ![]() |
CPI(M) | Left-wing | Communism | 7 November 1964 | Sitaram Yechury (General Secretary) |
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1 / 31 |
3 / 543 |
5 / 245 |
88 / 4,036 |
0 / 426 | ||
Indian National Congress | ![]() |
INC | Centre | Big tent Civic nationalism Social liberalism Secularism |
28 December 1885 | Sonia Gandhi (President) |
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2 / 31 |
53 / 543 |
34 / 245 |
678 / 4,036 |
43 / 426 | ||
Nationalist Congress Party | ![]() |
NCP | Centre-left | Liberalism Gandhism |
10 June 1999 | Sharad Pawar (President) |
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0 / 31 |
5 / 543 |
4 / 245 |
59 / 4,036 |
11 / 426 | ||
National People's Party | ![]() |
NPP | Centre | Regionalism Ethnocentrism |
6 January 2013 | 7 June 2019 | Conrad Sangma (President) |
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1 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
1 / 245 |
33 / 4,036 |
0 / 426 |
State parties
A party has to fulfill any of the following conditions for recognition as a state party:
- A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to the state legislative assembly and win at least 2 seats in that state assembly.
- A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to Lok Sabha and win at least 1 seat in Lok Sabha.
- A party should win at least 3% of the total number of seats or a minimum of three seats in the Legislative Assembly, which ever is higher.
- A party should win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or any fraction thereof allotted to that State.
- Under the liberalised criteria, one more clause that it will be eligible for recognition as state party if it secures 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the state.
Unrecognised parties
Notes
References
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- "State Party List" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 13 December 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2017.
- "List of Political Parties & Symbol MAIN Notification". Election Commission of India. 23 September 2021.
- "Dynamics of elevation of political parties to State or National Party". Press Information Bureau. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- "When is a Political Party recognized as a National or State Party?". FACTLY. 28 January 2017. Archived from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- "Bsp Gets National Party Status, Janata Party Derecognised". Business Standard. 27 January 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
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The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), led by Chandrasekhar Rao, took over the reins of the new state amid euphoria and high expectations. ... Blending boldness with populism, KCR has earned the reputation for being a tough task master
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- "Biju Janata Dal". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- "Lok Sabha Elections 2014: Know your party symbols!". Daily News and Analysis. 10 April 2014.
Founded in December 1997, the Biju Janata Dal or the BJD is a regional political party of India. Having split from the larger faction Janata Dal, the party stands by democracy and liberalism.
- "IDEOLOGY & FLAG". India: Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
- "General Programme of CPI(ML)". Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) website. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- "History". JK Panthers Party. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- PTI (9 November 2010). "SC upholds freeze on delimitation in J&K till 2026". The Hindu.
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- Singh, Mahendra Prasad; Saxena, Rekha (2003). India at the Polls: Parliamentary Elections in the Federal Phase. Orient Blackswan. p. 78. ISBN 978-8-125-02328-9.
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- "Mulayam's son Prateek Yadav attracts eye balls during ride in Rs 5 crore Lamborghini". Zee News. 14 January 2017.
- "SAD aims to widen reach, to contest UP poll". The Tribune. Chandigarh. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- Pandher, Sarabjit (3 September 2013). "In post-Independence India, the SAD launched the Punjabi Suba morcha in the 1960s, seeking the re-organisation of Punjab on linguistic basis". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
- Grover, Verinder (1996). Encyclopaedia of India and Her States: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab, Volume 4. Deep & Deep. p. 578.
- "Parkash Singh Badal calls for 'genuinely federal structure' for country". The Economic Times. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- Bharti, Vishav (6 August 2019). "Article 370: SAD 'dumps' its core ideology of federalism". The Tribune. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- "Contact Us". Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- "महंगाई व बेरोजगारी के खिलाफ किया प्रदर्शन". www.livehindustan.com. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- "SAMATA PARTY – Official Website". Retrieved 8 February 2022.
- "Allotment of Common Symbol -10B letter dt 15.9.15" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
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- https://www.janadhikarparty.org/.
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Further reading
- Subrata K. Mitra and V. B. Singh. 1999. Democracy and Social Change in India: but parties have to be 70per of decision 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).
- Subrata K. Mitra, Mike Enskat, Clemens Spiess (eds.). 2004. Political Parties in South Asia. Greenwood: Praeger.
- Political Parties, Democratic Politics II, Textbook in Political Science for Class X, NCERT