EC grants national party status to Aam Aadmi Party; withdraws tag from Trinamool Congress, NCP & CPI

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Monday granted national party status to Aam Aadmi Party and withdrew the tag from Trinamool Congress (TMC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI).
The Commission said the AAP has been named as a national party based on its electoral performance in four states -- Delhi, Goa, Punjab and Gujarat.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party has a government in Delhi and Punjab and has two members of legislative assembly (MLAs) in Goa. In Gujarat assembly polls, the party won 5 seats with 12.9% vote share.
Kejriwal congratulated all the party supporters and volunteers.
"No one can stop an idea whose time has come. Aam Aadmi Party's time has come. India's time has come," the Delhi chief minister said in a tweet posted by the party.

The BJP, Congress, CP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), National People's Party (NPP) and the AAP are now national parties.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, derecognised NCP, CPI and TMC as national parties.
The poll body had served show cause notices to the three parties asking them why they should not be derecognised as national parties following their performances in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
In their response, these parties requested the poll panel to allow them to retain the national status till 2024. The EC subsequently deferred its decision to review the national status of the parties.
In its order, the Commission also revoked the state party status granted to RLD in Uttar Pradesh, BRS in Andhra Pradesh, PDA in Manipur, PMK in Puducherry, RSP in West Bengal and MPC in Mizoram.
The Commission said that NCP and Trinamool Congress will be recognised as state parties in Nagaland and Meghalaya respectively based on their performance in the recently concluded assembly elections.
It also granted "recognised state political party" status to the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in Nagaland, Voice of the People Party in Meghalaya and the Tipra Motha in Tripura.
The national and state party statuses are reviewed every 10 years, after the EC amended the rules in 2016, before which the revision was to happen every five years.
As per Section 6B of the Symbols Order, a party is recognised as a ‘national party’ if it fulfils any of the following three conditions — if the candidates fielded by it in four or more states in the last general elections to Lok Sabha or state assembly polls have secured at least 6% of valid votes polled in each of those states and in addition, it has returned at least four members to the Lok Sabha; or, the party has won at least 2% of total Lok Sabja seats and its candidates have been elected from not less than three states; or the party is recognised as a ‘state party’ in at least four states.
(With inputs from agencies)