List of recognised political parties in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of recognised political parties in India. India has a multi-party system with a predominance of small regional parties. Parties that wish to contest local, state or national elections are required to be registered by the Election Commission of India (EC).
To gain recognition as a state party, the party must have some kind of political activity for at least five continuous years, and send at least 4% of the state's quota to the Lok Sabha (India's Lower house), or 3.33% of members to the state assembly. If the above conditions are not fulfilled, then a party may gain recognition by garnering not less than 6% of the total votes in a state or national election, polled in by all its contesting candidates. If a party is recognised in four or more states, it is automatically recognised as a national party by the EC.
All parties contesting elections have to choose a symbol from a list of available symbols offered by the Election Commission. All 28 states along with the union territory of Pondicherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi usually have an elected government unless President's rule is imposed under certain conditions.
Contents |
[edit] National
Six parties are recognised as national parties. They are listed by name, together with acronym, year of formation and the party leader.
| SYMBOL | NAME | ACRONYM | YEAR | CHIEF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Bahujan Samaj Party | BSP | 1984 | Mayawati |
 |
Bharatiya Janata Party | BJP | 1980 | Rajnath Singh |
 |
Communist Party of India | CPI | 1925 | A.B. Bardhan |
 |
Communist Party of India (Marxist) | CPI (M) | 1964 | Prakash Karat |
 |
Indian National Congress | INC | 1885 | Sonia Gandhi |
 |
Nationalist Congress Party | NCP | 1999 | Sharad Pawar |
[edit] State
If a party is recognised as a state party by the Election Commission, it can reserve a symbol for its exclusive use in the state. The following are a list of recognised parties and the state recognised.
[edit] Notes
- ^ , the BSP may use its symbol in all states except Sikkim and Assam, where its candidates have to choose another symbol. The BSP at the moment does not have a presence in these two states.
- ^ According to the CPI(M), the breakaway faction, the CPI was founded in 1920 in the USSR.
- ^ Uddhav Thackeray is the working president of the Shiv Sena. The overall command and veto is held by his father and party founder Bal Thackeray.
- NA – The exact year of formation is not available
[edit] See also
- List of political parties in India – complete list of all registered parties.
- List of political party symbols in India
[edit] References
- Current recognised parties. Election Commission of India. Retrieved on August 19, 2005. (pdf)
- Political parties and election symbols. Election Commission of India. Retrieved on August 19, 2005. (pdf)
- Major National Parties in India. Web123India.com. Retrieved on August 21, 2005.
