AAP Receive 'National Party' Status

The Aam Aadmi Party, led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was given national party status by the Election Commission of India on Monday. While the Nationalist Congress Party, led by seasoned politician Sharad Pawer, and the Trinamool Congress, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, were downgraded.

According to the commission's order, a review of AAP's polling results reveals that the party received 12.92% of the vote in Gujarat's general election for the legislative assembly. It has met the requirements to become a state party in Gujarat and is already acknowledged as such in Delhi, Goa, and Punjab.

A party benefits from having national status in a number of ways, including having a unified party emblem across all states, getting free advertising during elections on public broadcasters, and having room for a party office in New Delhi.

There were eight national parties registered with EC prior to ECI's adjustment on Monday. These were the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Congress, TMC, Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI (Marxist), National People's Party(NPP), and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

NCP lost its standing as a national party. The EC removed the party's status as a state party in Goa, Manipur, and Meghalaya after noting that it no longer satisfies any of the aforementioned requirements. In Nagaland, it has been acknowledged as a state party. In a similar vein, the TMC only continues to be a state party in Bengal and Tripura. Its national party status has been revoked, and Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh no longer recognise it as a legitimate state party.

Meanwhile, an organisation is recognised as a national party under the Election Symbols Ordinance, 1968 if it meets one of the three criteria listed below: First, it must receive at least 6% of the votes cast in elections for the Lok Sabha or state assemblies, and it must also have at least four Lok Sabha members. Second, its candidates represent a minimum of three states and at least 2% of the Lok Sabha's total seats. Third, at least four states recognise it as a state party. The third criterion is met by AAP.