New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday granted national party status to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and withdrew the national party status of Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Communist Party of India (CPI). In an order issued on Monday, the commission also scrapped 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 AAP has been given the status of a national party on the basis of its electoral performance in four states – Delhi, Goa, Punjab, and Gujarat. The party led by Arvind Kejriwal is in power in Delhi and Punjab.
The Election Commission said that the status of NCP, CPI, and Trinamool Congress as national political parties are withdrawn. BJP, Congress, Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), National People’s Party (NPP), and AAP are now national parties.
The commission said that the NCP and the Trinamool Congress would be recognized as state-level parties in Nagaland and Meghalaya, respectively, on the basis of their performance in the recently concluded assembly elections. With the end of the national status, the NCP will now be a political party with state status in Maharashtra, while the CPI will now be considered a state party with state status in Kerala, Manipur, and Tamil Nadu.
