Indian Polity - Political Parties

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Introduction

• Indian governance system has multi-party system and the political parties are categorized as −

  • National Political Party;
  • State or Regional (level) Political Party.

• The recognition and status of political parties are reviewed and authorized by the Election Commission of India.

Eligibility of National Political Party

• However, to be eligible for a ‘National Political Party of India,’ the Election Commission has set the following criteria −

  • It secures at least six percent of the valid votes polled in any four or more states, at a general election to the House of the People or, to the State Legislative Assembly; and

  • In addition, it wins at least four seats in the House of the People from any State or States.

    OR

  • It wins at least two percent seats in the House of the People (i.e., 11 seats in the existing House having 543 members), and these members are elected from at least three different States.

Eligibility of State Political Party

• To be eligible for a ‘State Political Party,’ the Election Commission has set the following criteria −

  • It secures at least six percent of the valid votes polled in the State at a general election, either to the House of the People or to the Legislative Assembly of the State concerned; and

  • In addition, it wins at least two seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State concerned.

    OR

  • It wins at least three percent (3%) of the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State, or at least three seats in the Assembly, whichever is more.

• The following table illustrates the major National Political Parties of India −

Political Party Name	Abbreviation	Founded in	Current Leader
Indian National Congress	INC	1885	Sonia Gandhi
Communist Party of India	CPI	1925	Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	CPI -M	1964	Sitaram Yechury
Bharatiya Janata Party	BJP	1980	Amit Shah
Bahujan Samaj Party	BSP	1985	Mayavati

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