From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday claimed the gamble of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contesting the Gujarat Assembly elections has paid dividends to the party to gain the national party tag.
In a tweet, he said AAP is set to become a national party because it fulfills the Election Commission’s criteria if a party wins 2 seats in the state and wins 6% vote share in at least four states.
Despite AAP’s sweeping mandate in the state elections in Delhi and Punjab, it could not claim the national status so far. However, AAP gets the national party tag to be in the company of eight other national parties. Kejriwal will use this to brag rights and flaunt this new branding in the future elections, though he does not have the resources or network alike the BJP and the Congress and so it will be a limiting factor for AAP’s national ambitions.
Eight national parties recognised by the Election Commission are: All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Communist Party Of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), National People’s Party (NPP), and the National Congress Party (NCP).
The criteria for becoming a national party are:
1. Secure at least 6% of the valid vote in an Assembly or a Lok Sabha General Election in any four or more states and win at least 4 seats in a Lok Sabha General Election from any State or States.
2. Win at least 2% of the total Lok Sabha seats in a Lok Sabha General Election and these seats have to be won from at least 3 states.
