This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

Trinamool Congress Is Recognised As A National Party By The Election Commission

The recent amendments to the Symbols Order, 1968, made this possible.
Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, in Kolkata on September 18, 2012. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri.
Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters
Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, in Kolkata on September 18, 2012. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri.

All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) was recognised as a national party today by the Election Commission (EC) of India today, after it successfully fulfilled one of the several conditions set by the independent body in the Symbols Order, 1968, The India Express reported.

The party, led by Mamata Banerjee, who is the chief minister of West Bengal, will join the ranks of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M]) and the Indian National Congress (INC).

The EC recently stated that for a political party to attain the status of a national party, it has to win 2% of Lok Sabha seats (11) from at least three different states in the latest general election. Else, it could get 6% of the total valid votes in at least four states as well as win four Lok Sabha seats. Or it had to be recognised as a state party in at least four states. TMC met the last condition to qualify for the status.

The EC had amended the Symbols Order last month allowing all political parties to retain their national and state party status for two consecutive election cycles or 10 years. This amendment allowed TMC to get into the league of national parties.

As The Indian Expresshad reported, TMC would have lost its state party status in Arunachal Pradesh after its poor showing during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, in which it secured only 1.5% of the vote share. But the amendment now requires parties to meet the minimum vote share every 10 years instead 5 years.

Also on HuffPost:

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.