Indian politics has a multi-party system. The Election Commission of India (ECI) accords recognition to the national level and state-level political parties. A party is recognized as a national party only if it fulfils any one of the three conditions listed below:
- The party win 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three states.
- At a general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in any four or more states and in addition, it wins four Lok Sabha seats.
- The party gets recognition as a state party in four states.
There are nine national parties, and they are
1 All India Trinamool Congress (TMC)- Its political position is Centre-Left, ideology is Secularism, Progressivism, and populism. Founded in 1998, its leader is Mamta Banerjee. They govern in one state, ie West Bengal. They have 23/543 seats in Lok Sabha, 13/245 in Rajya Sabha, 228/4038 in State Assemblies, and o/426 in State Councils.
2 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)- Its political position is Centre-Left, ideology is social equality, social justice, and self-respect. Founded in 1984. The present leader is Mayawati. They have 10/543 in Lok Sabha, 1/245 in Rajya Sabha, 7/4036 in State Assemblies, and 1/426 in State Councils.
3 Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)- Its political position is Right-wing, ideology is Hindutva, Nationalism, and Social Conservatism. Founded in 1980 (its earlier version Jana Sangh was founded in 1952). The party president is JP Nadda. Party governs 16/31 States/Union territories. They have 303/543 in Lok Sabha, 92/245 in Rajya Sabha, 1383/4036 in State Assemblies, and 167/426 in State Councils.
4 Communist Party of India (CPI)- Its political position is Left-wing, and its ideology is Communism Marxism-Leninsm, Socialism, and Secularism. Founded in 1925. Present President is D Raja. Party governs in 3/31 States/Union Territories. They have 2/543 in Lok Sabha, 2/245 in Rajya Sabha, 21/4036 in State Assemblies.
5 Communist Party of India-Marxism (CPI-M)- It is a Left-wing party, whose ideology is Communism Marxism, Leninism, Secularism, Social Equality, and Socialism. Founded in 1964. Present President is Sitaram Yechury. Party governs in 3/31 State Assembly/Union territory. They have 3/543 in LS, and 5/245 in RS, 85/4036 in State assemblies.
6 Indian National Congress (INC)- It is Centre to Centre-Left wing party, ideology is socialism, Secularism, and Social Democracy. Founded in 1885. Presently headed by Mallikarjun Khadge but indirectly controlled by Gandhi family. Governs in 6/31 States/Union territories. They have 52/543 in LS, 31/245 in RS, 650/4036 in Assemblies, 45/426 in State Council.
7 Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)- Its leaning is centre, ideology is Indian, Nationalism, and Secularism. Founded in 1999. Presently headed by founder Sharad Pawar. They have 4/543 in LS, 4/245 in RS, 56/4036 in State Assembly, and 11/426 in State Council.
8 National People’s Party (NPP)- It is a centre-left party, whose ideology is regionalism, Ethnocentrism. Founded in 2013. Presently headed by Conard Sangma. They govern in 3/31 State assemblies. They have 1/543 in LS, and 1/245 RS. 31/4036 State Assemblies.
9 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)- Its political position is of Centre, ideology is Anti-corruption, Secularism, Humanism. Founded in 2012. Presently headed by Arvind Kejriwal. They govern in two states. They have 0/543 in LS, 10/545 in RS. 161/4036 in State Assemblies.
A political party is to be recognized as a State party only if it fulfils any one of the five conditions listed below:
- A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to the state assembly, and win at least 2 seats in the state assembly.
- A party should secure at least 6% valid votes polled in an election of Lok Sabha and at least 1 seat in Lok Sabha.
- A party should win at least 3% of the total number of seats or a minimum of 3 seats in the assembly, whichever is higher.
- A party should win at least one seat in Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or any fraction thereof allotted to the state.
- Under the liberalized criteria, one more clause is that it will be eligible for recognition as a state party if it secures 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the state.
As per the last report, the Election Commission has given recognition to 55 state parties.
There are 2796 parties in the political scene which are not recognized.
Imagine the days after independence, when the number of political parties could be counted on the fingertips, as against 9 national, and 55 state parties, leaving the non-recognized parties. Does our country need so many political parties?
See the irony of the matter, we are having 9 recognised national-level political parties, but other than the ruling BJP there is no other party which has got even 10% of the total seats in Lok Sabha. With this scenario, in the present and last Lok Sabha, no leader of any national party could become the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha. The highest number of seats by any political party is-52 by INC, which is less than 10% of the total seats, as required by the political party of LOP. The situation is terrible for democracy, as without effective opposition the democratic set-up loses value.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
2nd March 2023.