Recently, India’s Election Commission has conferred the status of a recognised State party to the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) of Haryana. The commission also allocated the “key” symbol for the party. Notably, the two other parties recognised as state parties in Haryana are the Haryana Janhit Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal.
The Role of India’s Election Commission in Registering Political Parties
Political parties in India are registered by the Election Commission specifically for electoral purposes. Based on their performance in the polls, they are given recognition as either national or state parties. Parties failing to meet these criteria are simply declared as registered-unrecognised parties.
The recognition that a political party receives determines its entitlement to certain privileges. These benefits include the allocation of party symbols, the provision of time slots for political broadcasts on TV and radio stations, as well as access to electoral rolls.
Every national party and every state party is assigned a symbol that is exclusively kept for its use throughout the country or the states, respectively. The Commission designates certain symbols as ‘reserved symbols’, intended exclusively for the candidates representing the recognised parties.
Criteria for Recognition as a State Party
For a party to be recognised as a state party, it must fulfil any of the following conditions:
– It secures 6% of the valid votes in a general election to the legislative assembly of the state and wins at least two seats in the state assembly
– It secures 6% of the valid votes in a general election to the Lok Sabha from the state and wins at least one Lok Sabha seat from the state
– It wins 3% of seats or three seats (whichever is more) in the legislative assembly at a general election
– It wins one Lok Sabha seat for every 25 seats or fraction thereof allotted to the state at a general election
– It secures 8% of the total valid votes in a state at a General Election to the Lok Sabha or to the legislative assembly. This condition was introduced in 2011.
| State Party | Symbol Allocated |
|---|---|
| Jannayak Janta Party | Key |
| Haryana Janhit Congress | Tractor |
| Indian National Lok Dal | Spectacles |
Criteria for Recognition as a National Party
In India, for a party to be recognised as a national party, it must fulfil the following:
– Secure 6% of valid votes polled in at least four states at a general election to the Lok Sabha or to the legislative assembly and win at least four Lok Sabha seats from any state or states
– Win 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha at a general election and have candidates elected from three states
– Be recognised as a state party in four states.
In India’s dynamic political landscape, these guidelines serve as a foundational framework that facilitates the functioning of the party system and hence, play an integral role in driving the democratic process.