The political landscape in Manipur is seeing upheaval as four MLAs of the National People’s Party (NPP) along with several others have withdrawn their support from the ruling government. This recent development has brought the NPP, a relatively new party with national status, into the limelight.
The National People’s Party (NPP)
In 2019, the NPP was granted the status of a national party. This milestone was reached after it got recognised as a state party in four states: Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, and Meghalaya. Interestingly, the NPP is the eighth party in India to gain national recognition. The seven precedents were INC, BJP, BSP, NCP, CPI, CPI(M), and Trinamool Congress. Uniquely, it is also the first party hailing from Northeast India to be recognised as a national body.
Comprehending Political Parties
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), political parties can be categorised as a “national party”, “state party” or “registered (unrecognised) party”. The parameters for listing as a national or a state party are dictated by the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.
National Party: Definition and Requirements
To earn recognition as a national party, an Indian political party needs to fulfil certain conditions. The party must accrue 6% of valid votes from at least four states during a general Lok Sabha or State legislative assembly election. In addition, it must win at least four Lok Sabha seats from any state or states. It also has to make up 2% of all Lok Sabha seats in the last such election, with MPs elected from a minimum of three different states. Finally, it must be recognised as a state party in no less than four states.
State Party: Definition and Requirements
For recognition as a state party, any one of the following five criteria needs to be satisfied by a political party: amass two seats along with a 6% vote share in the last Assembly election held in the state; win one seat plus a 6% vote share in the last Lok Sabha election from the state; hold 3% of the total Assembly seats or three seats, whichever is higher; obtain one out of every 25 Lok Sabha seats from a state, or an equivalent fraction thereof; finally, secure an 8% state-wide vote share in either the last Lok Sabha or the last Assembly polls.
Loss of Recognised Status
Once a political party is recognised as a national or a state party, it retains that status unless it fails to fulfil any of the conditions for two consecutive Assembly and two successive Lok Sabha elections.
Symbols of Recognised Parties
Each recognised party is assigned a unique symbol. Here are examples from some parties: the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) uses the Elephant symbol, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) uses the Lotus, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has Ears of Corn and Sickle, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM uses Hammer, Sickle and Star, the Indian National Congress (INC) employs the Hand, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has the Clock, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) uses Flowers and Grass, and the National People’s Party (NPP) uses the Book symbol.
