Political parties: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Number of Political parties
In 1951
NATIONAL PARTIES
1. BJS: ALL INDIA BHARTIYA JAN SANGH
2. BPI: BOLSHEVIK PARTY OF INDIA
3. CPI: COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA
4. FBL(MG): FORWARD BLOC (MARXIST GROUP)
5. FBL(RG): FORWARD BLOC (RUIKAR GROUP)
6. HMS: AKHIL BHARATIYA HINDU MAHASABHA
7. INC: INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
8. KLP: KRISHIKAR LOK PARTY
9. KMPP: KISAN MAZDOOR PRAJA PARTY
10. RCPI: REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA
11. RRP: AKHIL BHARATIYA RAM RAJYA PARISHAD
12. RSP: REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST PARTY
13. SCF:All INDIA SCHEDULED CASTE FEDERATION
14. SP: SOCIALIST PARTY
OTHER STATE PARTIES
15. AMN: ALL MANIPUR NATIONAL UNION
16. APP: ALL PEOPLES PARTY
17. CNSPJP: CHOTA NAGPUR SANTHAL PARGANAS JANTA PARTY
18. CP: COCHIN PARTY
19. CWL: COMMON WEAL PARTY
20. DCL: PUNJAB DEPRESSED CLASS LEAGUE
21. GP: ALL INDIA GANTANTRA PARISHAD
22. GSS: GANDHI SEBAK SEVA
23. HPP: HILL PEOPLE PARTY
24. HR: HISTORICAL RESEARCH
25. HSPP: HYDERABAD STATE PRAJA PARTY
26. JHP: JHARKHAND PARTY
27. JUSP: JUSTICE PARTY
28. KJD: KHASI-JAINTIA DURBAR
29. KJSP: KISAN JANTA SANYUKTA PARTY
30. KKP: KAMGAR KISAN PAKSHA
31. KMM: KISAN MAZDOOR MANDAL
32. KNA: KUKI NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
33. KSP: KERALA SOCIALIST PARTY
34. LSS: LOK SEWAK SANGH
35. ML: MADRAS STATE MUSLIM LEAGUE PARTY
36. NAT: NATIONAL PARTY OF INDIA
37. PDF: PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC FRONT
38. PP: PRAJA PARTY
39. PURP: PURSHARATHI PANCHAYAT
40. PWP: PEASANTS & WORKERS PARTY
41. REP: All INDIA REPUBLICAN PARTY
42. RPP: All INDIA REPUBLICAN PARTY
43. RSP(UP): U.P. REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST PARTY
44. SAD: SHIROMANI AKALI DAL
45. SKP: S.K. PAKSHA
46. SKS: SAURASHTRA KHEDUT SANGH
47. TNT: THE TAMIL NAD TOILERS PARTY
48. TP: TAMIL NAD CONGRESS PARTY
49. TS: TRIBAL SANGHA
50. TTC: TRAVANCORE TAMIL NAD CONGRESS PARTY
51. UKS: ALL INDIA UNITED KISAN SABHA
52. UPPP: U.P. PRAJA PARTY
53. ZP: ZAMINDAR PARTY
In 2016
Over 1,900 parties in India, 400 never fought polls: EC, Dec 8, 2016: The Times of India
They Could Be Conduits For Black Money
Politics seems to be ingrained in Indians as the country has the largest number of political parties in the world, over 1,900 according to chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi, but over 400 of them have never contested any election. Zaidi suspected that these could be conduits for turning black money into white.
However, the Election Commission (EC) has started an exercise to strike off such parties from its list. “Striking off their names will disentitle them from income tax exemptions on contributions and donations,“ Zaidi said. Asked why the EC was not deregistering them, the CEC said deregistration was a long-drawn process.“Eventually, we may have to do that, but this is the immediate action taken by the EC on finding the anomaly,“ he said. The EC has asked state CECs to send it a comprehensive report of lists of registered parties which have never contested an election and also the contributions received by them, Zaidi said. He said that from now on, it would be an annual exercise to prune the list of registered parties.
Land fee for allotted land
2022
Dipak K Dash, Sep 22, 2022: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: In a big relief to almost all major national political parties, the Cabinet has approved almost 75% reduction in the land fee which the housing and urban affairs ministry had charged from all such outfits for the land allotted to them in Delhi for setting up their offices. While the biggest beneficiary of the decision will be BJP, all others will also gain from this decision.
As per the decision, while parties including the BJP, Trinamool Congress, JD (U), DMK and TDP will have to pay less than what the government had asked for, parties such as AIADMK, Congress, TRS and Samajwadi Party and CPM will get refund of some of the payments they have made to the government. The Land and Development Office (L&DO) has so far allotted 14 plots to nearly a dozen political parties under the “institutional” allotment category.
TOI has learnt that the Cabinet approved the decision to change the category of the land allotted to political parties from “institutional” to “government-to-government” on September 7, but it was not made public. However, the minutes were circulated.
These plots were allotted between 2000 and 2017. Though there was provision to revise the rates every second year, this was not done since 2000. Only in 2017, the rates were revised.
When the dues were raised, almost all political parties had sought reduction in land rates by changing the allotment category while citing that they don’t use the allotted land for subletting or for commercial purposes. Sources said while all parties had deposited the required amount when the land parcels were allotted, they had agreed to pay the additional amount when the government revised the charge.
The rate applicable for “government-to-government” land allotment is nearly one-fourth of the rate fixed for land allotted for institutional purposes. The political parties had flagged that even paying the institutional rate was difficult for them, though the rate under the “institutional” allotment category is almost 50% less than the commercial rate.
As per the new decision, now the BJP will need to pay around Rs 18 crore to the L&DO for three plots allotted to it. This would mean a saving of around Rs 73 crore Similarly, the JD(U) would have to pay around 49 lakh and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) around Rs 1 crore.
Since some of the political parties have paid the revised amount, hence now the government will pay them back the extra amount. “The decision is for all allotments and hence those who have made the revised payment will get a refund,” a source said.
For example, the government would return Rs 27 lakh to the Congress party, Rs 2.6 crore to AIADMK and around Rs 10.2 crore to the Samajwadi Party.
Sources said the government may go for revised allotment as per the new decision and the provisions for “no subletting” and “commercial activity” clauses may be included.
This is the second time when the Cabinet has taken a decision regarding allotment of government land, but did not make it public. Earlier in 2017, it had decided to restore land to nearly two dozen religious, social and educational organisations, which were allotted during the Vajpayee regime but scrapped by UPA-I. Most of these organisations are affiliated to R S S.
Registering, granting recognition to a party
The process
Why EC takes 5 years to tag a party, February 26, 2018: The Times of India
Another new neta has plunged into politics. Following Tamil actor Kamal Haasan’s high-flying foray into politics, here’s tracking how a party gets launched
Is it necessary to form a party to contest elections?
Any Indian citizen over 25 years old and registered as a voter can contest an election without forming a political party. Associations too can contest elections without being registered by the Election Commission. They, however, will not be identified as a political party and will not be eligible for benefits a party enjoys.
What are the benefits of registering a party?
The People’s Representation Act allows political parties to accept contributions. Every party may accept any amount of contribution voluntarily offered to it by any person or company other than a government organisation. Candidates of registered parties get preference in allotment of election symbols. A registered party gradually can find recognition as a state or national party.
A recognised party gets exclusive allotment of reserved symbols for state and national elections. All recognised national and state parties can use state-owned electronic media, ie: AIR and Doordarshan for their campaigns during elections. The state and national parties need only one proposer (elector from the constituency) to file nominations and are also entitled to two free sets of electoral rolls. An Independent candidate needs 10 proposers.
What are the criteria for recognition?
For starters, the party must be politically active for five continuous years. It should also have at least one Lok Sabha MP for every 25 MPs elected from the state in the last election to be recognised as a national party. An MP or MLA who becomes a party member after his election is not considered. A party functional for five continuous years that has returned at least one MLA for every 30 MLAs elected in the past assembly poll is recognised as a state party. The definition of ‘state’ for this purpose includes Delhi and Puducherry.
A party recognised as a political party in four or more states qualifies as a national party.
If a party polls 6% or more of total valid votes in the last Lok Sabha or state assembly election, it is also granted recognition as a ‘national’ party. The status of parties is reviewed after every two consecutive Lok Sabha polls or state elections.
How is a party registered?
An application along with a non-refundable processing fee and the party’s constitution or rules-regulation is the first step. It should include a minimum of 100 members whose names are on the latest electoral rolls and who aren’t members of any other registered party. All documents must reach EC within 30 days following the date the party was formed, delay in which makes applications time-barred.
1957- 2014
ii) 1996- 2014: seats won by political parties in Lok Sabha elections
From: February 26, 2018: The Times of India
See graphic:
i) 1957- 2014: the number of political parties that contested elections in India;
ii) 1996- 2014: seats won by political parties in Lok Sabha elections
Small Parties
2017
Ashish Mishra , Small fry a party for everyone “ India Today “ 2/2/2017
Dhananjay Singh was a member of Parliament from the Bahujan Samaj Party for five years, between 2009 and 2014. Before the 2012 assembly elections, Mayawati expelled Singh, an accused in over two dozen criminal cases. This year, when Singh found he was still persona non grata, he turned to the Nishad Party. Vijay Misra, a sitting Samajwadi Pary MLA, was denied a ticket by Akhilesh Yadav because of the number of criminal charges, including murder, that he faces. He too is now a candidate for the Nishad Party. Founded by Sanjay Kumar Nishad, the Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal has been carefully named so that its acronym aligns it with the Nishad (boatman) community, a substantial voting bloc.
UP has 472 political parties registered with the Election Commission. These parties play a major role, particularly when the race is as tight as this year's, when every party with votes becomes a potential partner in a cobbled-together government.
In 2012, the Peace Party won three assembly seats and captured 2.35 per cent of the vote, making it the sixth largest party in the state. This year, the Peace Party has formed a coalition with the Nishad Party. The coalition also includes the Krishna Patel-led Apna Dal and former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha's Jan Adhikar Manch. This alliance of small fry will contest all 403 seats in the state. As Sanjay Kumar Nishad explains, "More than 200 constituencies in the state have more than one lakh people belonging to either the Nishad, Kurmi, Kushwaha or 'backward Muslim' communities." With those kinds of numbers, the major parties will be looking over their shoulders.
