Registered unrecognised political parties increased two-fold from 2010 to 2019

According to a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the number of registered unrecognised political parties has increased two-fold from 2010 to 2019.

• From 1,112 such parties in 2010, the number of unrecognised registered parties has increased to 2,301 in 2019.

About unrecognised registered parties

• Either newly registered parties or those which have not secured enough percentage of votes in the assembly or general elections to become a state party, or those which have never contested elections since being registered are considered unrecognised parties.

• Every party in the country has to register with the Election Commission.

• While the Commission treats all parties equally, it offers some special facilities to large and established parties. These parties are given a unique symbol – only the official candidates of that party can use that election symbol.

• Parties that get this privilege and some other specialised facilities are ‘recognised’ by the Election Commission for this purpose. That is why these parties are called, ‘recognised political parties’.

• The Election Commission has laid down detailed criteria of the proportion of votes and seats that a party must get in order to be a recognised party.

Recognised political party in a State:

A political party shall be treated as a recognised political party in a State, if and only if the political party fulfills any of the following conditions:

• At General Elections or Legislative Assembly elections, the party has won 3% of seats in the legislative assembly of the State ( subject to a minimum of 3 seats).

• At a Lok Sabha General Elections, the party has won 1 Lok sabha seat for every 25 Lok Sabha seat allotted for the State.

• At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly , the party has polled minimum of 6% of votes in a State and in addition it has won 1 Lok Sabha or 2 Legislative Assembly seats.

• At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party has polled 8% of votes in a State.

Recognised National Party Status:

• The party wins 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha (11 seats) from at least 3 different States.

• At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in four States and in addition it wins 4 Lok Sabha seats.

• A party gets recognition as State Party in four or more States.

Benefits to the Registered Recognised Political Parties

• If a party is recognised as a State Party’, it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it in the State in which it is so recognised, and if a party is recognised as a `National Party’ it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it throughout India.

• Recognised `State’ and `National’ parties need only one proposer for filing the nomination.

• These parties are also entitled for two sets of electoral rolls free of cost at the time of revision of rolls and their candidates get one copy of electoral roll free of cost during General Elections.

• They get broadcast/telecast facilities over Akashvani/Doordarshan during general elections.

• Political parties are entitled to nominate “Star Campaigners” during General Elections. A recognized National or State party can have a maximum of 40 “Star campaigners” and a registered un-recognised party can nominate a maximum of 20 ‘Star Campaigners”.

• The travel expenses of star campaigners are not to be accounted for in the election expense accounts of candidates of their party.

(Source: ADR and PIB)