April 18, 2026

National Party Tag For AAP

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-04-11 06:44:14

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Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

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In a periodic review of the performance of political parties in state and general elections that impacts their status as state and national parties, the Election Commission (EC) made several changes to the status of many political parties including AAP, TMC, NCP, CPI and Tirpa Motha.

AAP was the major gainer as it got national party status for the first time on the back of its superb performance in Punjab and Gujarat. The party is now recognized as a state party in four states – Delhi, Punjab, Goa and Gujarat - thus fulfilling the condition under the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968 to be recognized as a national party.

On the other hand, TMC lost the national tag as it was recognized as a state party only in Bengal, Tripura & Meghalaya. Similarly, NCP remains a state party only in Maharashtra and Nagaland and the CPI just in Kerala. Debutant Tipra Motha was recognized as a state party in Tripura.

The EC said that it had taken the decision "after following due process and giving ample opportunity to the affected parties". This is a routine process driven by facts and figures (vote share obtained in state and national elections in different states) and most parties have their status revised periodically based on their electoral performance.

National parties get many benefits like right to use a reserved symbol, 40 'star' campaigners (this helps as star campaigners' expenses are not added to the party's overall expenses in running an election campaign), single proposer to file nominations and government land to build headquarters, among others and this helps them immensely in elections. AAP will benefit hugely from the national party tag in its efforts to increase its footprint across the nation. The TMC, on the other hand, will suffer as it no longer has the tag of a national party.