New Delhi, Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday recognised Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a national political party and withdrew the national status of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and All India Trinamul Congress (AITC).
The ECI also withdrew 'state party recognition' to the BRS in Andhra Pradesh The action on the BRS was taken on the ground that the party did not contest elections in AP after bifurcation of state in 2014. The EC stated that BRS will be treated as a 'state recognised political party' only in Telangana.
The ECI said the downgrade of the CPI, NCP and the Trinamul were based on continuous evaluation of their performance since 2019 during which two parliamentary elections and 21 Assembly elections were held.
AAP is a state recognised party in Delhi, Goa, Gujarat and Punjab, fulfilling the eligibility condition for national status under the Symbols Order. AAP’s poll symbol “Broom” has now been reserved for it. “National party in such a short time? This is nothing less than a miracle. Many congratulations to all. Crores of people of the country have taken us here. People expect a lot from us. Today people have given us this huge responsibility. Lord, bless us to fulfill this responsibility well," AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said.
The ECI said it reviewed performance of recognised national and state political parties, a continuous process, under the Symbols Order 1968. “Since 2019, ECI upgraded the status of 16 political parties and withdrawn the current status of 9 national/state political parties,” ECI said. AAP’s new status is based on its performance and vote share needed as per the Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968.
With regard to the BRS, as per EC norms, a political party should fulfil the following conditions to be eligible for recognition as a state party in a state: Secure not less than six per cent of the votes in the last Assembly elections, win two MLA seats; Secure not less than six per cent of the vote in the state in the last Lok Sabha elections and win one Lok Sabha seat; Win at least three per cent of the total Assembly seats in the last Assembly elections; Win at least one Lok Sabha seat for every 25 members allotted to the state in the last general elections; Should secure not less than eight per cent of the votes in the last general elections held to the Lok Sabha or the Assembly in the state.
The TRS secured state party recognition in Undivided AP as it fulfilled these conditions. In 2014 and 2019, however, the TRS (now BRS) did not contest in AP.
The poll body said that the NCP and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in Nagaland; AITC and Voice of the People Party in Meghalaya; Tipra Motha in Tripura were given status as recognised state political parties. Besides, status of six state political parties -- PDA Manipur, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) Puducherry, RLD Uttar Pradesh, BRS Andhra Pradesh, RSP West Bengal and MPC Mizoram – too was withdrawn and they remain as Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPP).
After the 2019 parliamentary polls, the EC had issued notices to TMC, CPI, NCP asking why their status should not be downgraded based on the outcome of the general election. However, the process could not move forward due to the pandemic
