Recognition: national and state parties

Detail

1. The legal base: Symbols Order 1968

• Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968 (the Symbols Order) is the rulebook that decides which party gets which election symbol. It also decides which parties are "recognised" by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
• The ECI issued it using its power under Art. 324, which puts the ECI in charge of superintendence, direction and control of elections.

• It also rests on Rules 5 and 10 of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961. These rules deal with the list of symbols and how symbols are given to candidates.

• What it does. The Order covers:

• choosing, reserving and allotting symbols in Lok Sabha and assembly seats;

• recognising political parties for the purpose of symbols [3].

• Disputes. When a party splits, the ECI decides which group gets the party name and symbol (para 15).

• Sadiq Ali v. ECI (1971): the Supreme Court upheld the Order. The ECI may decide symbol disputes because Art. 324 gives it full control of elections.
• Two kinds of recognised party. A recognised political party is either a National party or a State party [3].
• Other parties are only registered with the ECI under s.29A of the Representation of the People Act 1951 (RPA). They are not recognised.

• Registered parties can later earn State or National status if they meet the conditions in the Symbols Order [3].

• Suspension (para 16A). The ECI can suspend or withdraw a party's recognition if the party breaks the Model Code of Conduct or ignores ECI directions.

• Example: the ECI suspended the recognition of the National People's Party under para 16A in 2015 [4].

2. What recognition gives a party

A recognised political party is a party that meets the vote or seat tests in the Symbols Order. NCERT says such parties get "a unique symbol… and some other special facilities". These facilities are:

Benefit	Detail
Reserved symbol	Only this party's candidates can use it. A national party gets it across India. A state party gets it only inside its state.
One proposer	A candidate needs only one proposer to file nomination papers. An independent or unrecognised party candidate needs ten.
Electoral rolls	Free copies of the electoral rolls (the lists of voters)
Broadcast time	Free time on Doordarshan and All India Radio during elections (s.39A, RPA 1951)
Star campaigners	Up to 40 star campaigners. Their travel costs are not added to the candidate's expense account.
Consultation	The ECI consults recognised parties on election matters, such as the Model Code of Conduct.

3. Criteria for a State party (para 6A)

A party becomes a state party if it meets any one of these tests in a state:

#	Test	Election used
1	6% of valid votes + 2 MLAs	Assembly election
2	6% of valid votes in the state + 1 MP	Lok Sabha election
3	3% of assembly seats or 3 seats, whichever is more	Assembly election
4	1 Lok Sabha seat for every 25 seats (or part of 25) that the state has	Lok Sabha election
5	8% of valid votes, with no seat needed (added 2011)	Lok Sabha or assembly election

• Test 5 is the liberal test. It helps a party that wins many votes but few seats.

4. Criteria for a National party (para 6B)

A party becomes a national party if it meets any one of these tests:

#	Test
1	6% of valid votes in four or more states (in Lok Sabha or assembly polls) + at least 4 Lok Sabha seats [3]
2	2% of Lok Sabha seats (11 of 543), won from at least three states
3	Recognised as a state party in four or more states

• NCERT (Class 10) gives only one test for each type of party. The Class 9 chapter (Fig. 7.12) gives the full lists.

5. Keeping recognition: the 2016 change (para 6C)

• Amendment of 22 August 2016. The ECI changed para 6C, which sets the "conditions for continued recognition as a National or State Party" [2].
• How it works now [3]:
• A party wins recognition at one general election.
• At the next general election it may fail the tests. It still stays recognised.

• After the election after that, it must meet para 6A or 6B again, or it loses its status.

• Effect: status is now reviewed after two elections in a row, not after every election. This gives parties a grace period of one election.

6. The ECI review of 10 April 2023

On 10 April 2023 the ECI issued these orders [2]:

• Gained national status: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
• Lost national status:
• All India Trinamool Congress (TMC): also lost state status in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
• Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): also lost state status in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya.

• Communist Party of India (CPI): also lost state status in West Bengal and Odisha.

• New state parties:

• Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in Nagaland
• Voice of the People Party in Meghalaya

• Tipra Motha in Tripura

• Lost state status:

• Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh
• Bharat Rashtra Samithi (formerly the Telangana Rashtra Samithi) in Andhra Pradesh
• Pattali Makkal Katchi in Puducherry
• Revolutionary Socialist Party in West Bengal
• Mizoram People's Conference in Mizoram

• People's Democratic Alliance in Manipur

• Result: six national parties: INC, BJP, BSP, CPI(M), AAP and NPP.

• Check before the exam: the ECI may carry out a new review after the 2024 Lok Sabha election and later assembly polls. Confirm the current list on the ECI website.

7. Profiles of the six national parties

Party	Founded	Ideas and base	Performance
Indian National Congress (INC)	1885	One of the oldest parties in the world. It split many times. It was the dominant party after Independence. It is centrist and backs "reforms with a human face".	Led the UPA government 2004–14. Won 99 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	1980	It revived the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1951), founded by Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Its ideas are Deendayal Upadhyaya's integral humanism and Antyodaya (uplift of the poorest first), plus cultural nationalism.	Won 282 seats in 2014, 303 in 2019 and 240 in 2024.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)	1984, by Kanshi Ram	Works for the bahujan samaj (Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities). It draws on Phule, Periyar, Sahu Maharaj and Ambedkar. Its main base is Uttar Pradesh.	0 seats in 2024 (NCERT: 10 seats in 2019).
CPI(M)	1964	Follows Marxism-Leninism.	Ruled West Bengal for 34 years (1977–2011). Strong in Kerala and Tripura.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)	26 Nov 2012	Came out of the 2011 anti-corruption movement.	Has governed Punjab since 2022. Lost Delhi in February 2025, so NCERT's description is out of date.
National People's Party (NPP)	July 2013, under P.A. Sangma	First national party from the North-East (national status in 2019).	Governs Meghalaya.

• NCERT errors to correct:
• The Class 10 text says "other than these seven parties". After April 2023 the number is six.
• Use 2004–14 as the UPA period.
• The TRS is now the BRS [2].

8. State parties

• How many: about 60 recognised state parties. Check the current ECI list for the exact number.
• "Regional" is a loose label. NCERT calls them regional parties, but they are of two kinds:
• All-India in organisation, strong in one state: for example, the Samajwadi Party and the RJD.

• Built around state identity: for example, the BJD (Odisha), SDF (Sikkim), MNF (Mizoram) and TRS/BRS (Telangana).

• Their rise since the 1990s:

• more state parties won seats in Lok Sabha;
• Parliament became more diverse;
• no single party could easily win a majority, so coalition governments (governments formed by several parties together) became common;

• national parties had to depend on state parties to form governments.

• NCERT activities (Class 9, Ch 7):

• Let's Map: mark each state party on a map of India.
• Q7 (match the party with its symbol): AAP – broom; BJP – lotus; BSP – elephant; CPI(M) – hammer, sickle and star; INC – hand; NPP – book.
• Q4: how a national party differs from a state party. Compare where its symbol is reserved, which recognition tests it meets and how widely it gets votes.

Prelims Hooks

• The Symbols Order 1968 is an ECI order under Art. 324, read with Rules 5 and 10 of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961. It is not an Act of Parliament.
• Sadiq Ali v. ECI (1971) upheld the Symbols Order and the ECI's power to settle symbol disputes.
• Para 6A = state party tests. Para 6B = national party tests. Para 6C = continued recognition, amended 22 August 2016 [2]. Para 16A = suspending or withdrawing recognition [4].
• 8% of votes with no seat became a state party test in 2011.
• National party seat test: 2% of Lok Sabha seats (11) from at least 3 states.
• 10 April 2023 [2]:
• AAP became a national party.
• TMC, NCP and CPI lost national status.

• This left six national parties.

• The NPP is the first national party from the North-East. It was founded by P.A. Sangma.

• A recognised party's candidate needs 1 proposer. Other candidates need 10.
• Trap: a registered party (s.29A, RPA 1951) is not automatically recognised. Only recognised parties get a reserved symbol [3].

Mains Points

• Vote share vs seats. The 8% test (2011) and the 2016 grace period make recognition depend less on winning seats. This helps parties that win many votes but few seats under first-past-the-post (the candidate with the most votes wins, even without a majority). Critics say the grace period lets parties keep privileges they no longer earn [2][3].
• Federalism and coalitions. State parties grew from the 1990s. They pushed state issues into national politics and made coalition governments normal. Recognition gives them a reserved symbol and media time, which makes the party system more federal.
• The ECI's power. The ECI makes these rules through its own order under Art. 324, not through a law of Parliament. Recognition, de-recognition (10 April 2023) and symbol disputes therefore rest on ECI judgement. Some argue that Parliament should write the rules into law to make them more transparent.
• Level playing field. Free broadcast time and 40 star campaigners favour parties that are already established. Independents and new parties can find it hard to compete. Reform ideas include sharing broadcast time by vote share, with a minimum for new parties.