Although the Gujarat assembly election results saw BJP win a landslide victory with 156 seats in the 182-member Assembly, it made AAP upgrade to being a ‘national party’. With 12.9 per cent of the votes in Gujarat, as well as five seats, the AAP became India’s ninth national party.
Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia declared on the morning of December 8 that AAP is “becoming a national party today” thanks to the Gujarat electorate, congratulating the whole nation for this achievement — hours before the results were declared.
"The politics of education and health is making a mark for the first time in the country," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
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However, the party's national recognition is yet to receive an official nod from the Election Commission of India (ECI).
What is a national party?
A political party gains ‘national’ status when it is nationally recognised and the presence is not restricted to one state or region. As opposed to regional parties, national parties are bigger in size. However, even if a party gains the status of the national party, it does not necessarily mean that the party has a lot of national importance.
Further, a recognised party is also entitled to airtime on the public broadcaster for election campaigns, and to office space and membership of consultative committees at various levels of government.
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When does the ECI recognise a party as a national party?
As per the guidelines of the ECI Political Parties and Election Symbols, 2019 handbook, a political party would be considered a national party if:
1. It is ‘recognised’ in four or more states; or
2. If its candidates polled at least 6% of total valid votes in any four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and has at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls; or
3. If it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from not less than three states.
Further, the Elections Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, recognises a party as a state party if it fulfils any one of five conditions: 6 per cent vote share and two MLAs or one MP in the respective election; 3 per cent of Assembly seats or three MLAs, whichever is higher; one MP for every 25 allotted to the state or any fraction thereof; or 8 per cent vote share in the last Assembly election.
How does AAP qualify to be a national party?
Following the Gujarat elections, AAP secured 12.9 per cent of the votes along with five seats. The AAP is a state party in both Delhi and Punjab where it is in power. It won two seats and a 6.3 per cent vote share in Goa earlier this year.
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What are the other national parties of India?
Before AAP, the National People’s Party (NPP) became the eighth political party from India and the first from the Northeast to gain the status of a national party.
It received its official recognition on June 7, 2019 after it was recognised as a state party in four states — Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
The party led by Meghalaya CM Conrad K. Sangma was formed by his father and former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A. Sangma in 2013.
Other parties that have been recognised as national parties are Congress, BJP, Mayawati's BSP, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPI (Marxist), Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.
