List of political parties in India
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India has a multi-party system, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) grants recognition to national-level and state-level political parties based on objective criteria. A recognised political party enjoys privileges such as a reserved party symbol,[a] free broadcast time on state-run television and radio, consultation in deciding election dates, and giving input in setting electoral rules and regulations. Other political parties wishing to contest local, state, or national elections must be registered with the ECI. Registered parties can be upgraded to recognized national or state parties by the ECI if they meet the relevant criteria after a Lok Sabha or state legislative assembly election. The ECI periodically reviews the recognized party status.
Before the amendment in 2016 (which came into force on 1 January 2014), if a political party failed to fulfill the criteria in the subsequent Lok Sabha or state legislative assembly election, it would lose its status as a recognized party. In 2016, the ECI announced that a periodic review would take place after two consecutive elections instead of after every election. Therefore, a political party will retain its recognized party status even if it does not meet the criteria in the next election. However, if it fails to meet the criteria in the election following the next one, it would lose its status.
As per latest publications dated 23 March 2024 from Election Commission of India, and subsequent notifications, there are 6 national parties,[1] 60 state parties,[2][b] and 2,049 registered unrecognized parties (RUPP) in India.[9] All registered parties contesting elections need to choose a symbol from a list of available symbols offered by the ECI. All 29 states of the country and the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, National Capital Territory of Delhi, and Puducherry have elected legislatures unless President's rule is imposed under certain conditions.
Criteria for recognition
National party status
A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfills any one of the three conditions listed below:[10]
- If its candidates have secured at least 6% of total valid votes in at least 4 states (in latest Lok Sabha or Assembly elections) and the party has at least 4 MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls.
- If it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from at least 3 states.
- It is 'recognised' in four or more states.
State party status
A registered party is recognised as a state party only if it fulfils any one of the five conditions listed below:[10]
- A party should secure at least six per cent of valid votes polled in an election to the state legislative assembly and win at least two seats in that state assembly.
- A party should secure at least six per cent of valid votes polled in an election to Lok Sabha and win at least one seat in Lok Sabha.
- A party should win at least three per cent of the total number of seats or any fraction thereof allotted to that state.
- At least one MP for every 25 members or any fraction allotted to the state in the Lok Sabha.[11]
- Under the liberalised criteria, one more clause that it will be eligible for recognition as state party if it secures eight per cent or more of the total valid votes polled in the state.
National parties
| Party | Abbr. | Flag | Election symbol |
Political position |
Ideology | Founded | Leader | Government in states/UTs | Number of seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief ministers |
Ruling coalition[c] |
Lok Sabha | Rajya Sabha[d] | State assemblies[e] |
State councils | |||||||||
| Aam Aadmi Party | AAP | Centre[12][13] | 26 November 2012 | Arvind Kejriwal | 1 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
3 / 543 |
3 / 245 |
121 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | ||||
| Bahujan Samaj Party | BSP | Centre-left[22] | 14 April 1984 | Mayawati | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
1 / 245 |
4 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | ||||
| Bharatiya Janata Party | BJP | Right-wing[f] to far-right[g] |
6 April 1980 | Nitin Nabin | 17 / 31 |
5 / 31 |
240 / 543 |
113 / 245 |
1,812 / 4,123 |
165 / 426 | ||||
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | CPI(M) | Left-wing[j] | Marxism–Leninism[54][55][56] Socialism[54][57][58][59] Secularism[55] |
7 November 1964 | M. A. Baby | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
4 / 543 |
3 / 245 |
43 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Indian National Congress | INC | Centre[63] | 28 December 1885 | Mallikarjun Kharge | 4 / 31 |
2 / 31 |
100 / 543 |
29 / 245 |
632 / 4,123 |
60 / 426 | ||||
| National People's Party | NPP | Centre-right[70] | 6 January 2013 | Conrad Sangma | 1 / 31 |
3 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
1 / 245 |
50 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | ||||
State parties
| Party | Flag | Election symbol |
Founded | Leader(s) | Recognised in state(s) | Government in states/UTs | Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief minister | Ruling coalition[c] | Lok Sabha | Rajya Sabha | State assemblies |
State councils | |||||||
| State party in three states | ||||||||||||
| All India Trinamool Congress | 1998 | Mamata Banerjee | Meghalaya Tripura West Bengal |
0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
29 / 543 |
13 / 245 |
80 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Communist Party of India | 1925 | D. Raja | Kerala Manipur Tamil Nadu |
0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
2 / 543 |
2 / 245 |
22 / 4,123 |
1 / 426 | |||
| Janata Dal (Secular) | 1999 | H. D. Deve Gowda H. D. Kumaraswamy |
Arunachal Pradesh Karnataka Kerala |
0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
2 / 543 |
1 / 245 |
18 / 4,123 |
8 / 426 | |||
| Janata Dal (United) | 2003 | Nitish Kumar | Arunachal Pradesh Bihar Manipur |
0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
12 / 543 |
4 / 245 |
87 / 4,123 |
26 / 426 | |||
| State party in two states | ||||||||||||
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1972 | Edappadi K. Palaniswami | Puducherry Tamil Nadu |
0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
4 / 245 |
43 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1949 | M. K. Stalin | Puducherry Tamil Nadu |
0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
22 / 543 |
10 / 245 |
59 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Naga People's Front | 1963 | Neiphiu Rio | Manipur Nagaland |
1 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
39 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Nationalist Congress Party | 1999 | Sunetra Pawar | Maharashtra Nagaland |
0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
3 / 245 |
44 / 4,123 |
8 / 426 | |||
| Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar | 2024 | Sharad Pawar | Maharashtra Nagaland |
0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
8 / 543 |
2 / 245 |
12 / 4,123 |
3 / 426 | |||
| Rashtriya Janata Dal | 1997 | Lalu Prasad Yadav Tejashwi Yadav |
Bihar Jharkhand |
0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
4 / 543 |
5 / 245 |
81 / 4,123 |
5 / 426 | |||
| Telugu Desam Party | 1982 | N. Chandrababu Naidu | Andhra Pradesh Telangana |
1 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
16 / 543 |
2 / 245 |
135 / 4,123 |
10 / 426 | |||
| YSR Congress Party | 2011 | Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy | Andhra Pradesh Telangana |
0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
4 / 543 |
7 / 245 |
11 / 4,123 |
35 / 426 | |||
| State party in one state | ||||||||||||
| All India Forward Bloc | 1939 | Debabrata Biswas | West Bengal | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen | 1927 | Asaduddin Owaisi | Telangana | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
10 / 4,123 |
2 / 426 | |||
| All India N.R. Congress | 2011 | N. Rangaswamy | Puducherry | 1 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
10 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| All India United Democratic Front | 2005 | Badruddin Ajmal | Assam | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
15 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| All Jharkhand Students Union | 1986 | Sudesh Mahto | Jharkhand | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
1 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Apna Dal (Soneylal) | 2016 | Anupriya Patel | Uttar Pradesh | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
2 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
12 / 4,123 |
1 / 426 | |||
| Asom Gana Parishad | 1985 | Atul Bora | Assam | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
1 / 245 |
9 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Bharat Rashtra Samithi | 2001 | K. Chandrashekar Rao | Telangana | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
4 / 245 |
39 / 4,123 |
19 / 426 | |||
| Biju Janata Dal | 1997 | Naveen Patnaik | Odisha | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
7 / 245 |
51 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Bodoland People's Front | 2005 | Hagrama Mohilary | Assam | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
3 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation | 1974 | Dipankar Bhattacharya | Bihar | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
2 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
13 / 4,123 |
1 / 426 | |||
| Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam | 2005 | Premallatha Vijayakant | Tamil Nadu | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Goa Forward Party | 2016 | Vijai Sardesai | Goa | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
1 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Hill State People's Democratic Party | 1968 | KP Pangniang | Meghalaya | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
2 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Indian National Lok Dal | 1996 | Abhay Singh Chautala | Haryana | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
2 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Indian Union Muslim League | 1948 | Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal | Kerala | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
3 / 543 |
2 / 245 |
15 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Indigenous People's Front of Tripura | 2009 | Prem Kumar Reang | Tripura | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
1 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | 1932 | Farooq Abdullah Omar Abdullah |
Jammu and Kashmir | 1 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
2 / 543 |
3 / 245 |
42 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party | 1982 | Harsh Dev Singh | Jammu and Kashmir | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party | 1999 | Mehbooba Mufti | Jammu and Kashmir | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
3 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Janasena Party | 2014 | Pawan Kalyan | Andhra Pradesh | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
2 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
21 / 4,123 |
2 / 426 | |||
| Jannayak Janta Party | 2018 | Dushyant Chautala | Haryana | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Janta Congress Chhattisgarh | 2016 | Renu Jogi | Chhattisgarh | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | 1972 | Hemant Soren | Jharkhand | 1 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
3 / 543 |
2 / 245 |
34 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Kerala Congress | 1964 | P. J. Joseph | Kerala | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Kerala Congress (M) | 1979 | Jose K. Mani | Kerala | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
1 / 245 |
5 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) | 2021 | Chirag Paswan | Bihar | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
5 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
3 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Maharashtra Navnirman Sena | 2006 | Raj Thackeray | Maharashtra | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party | 1963 | Deepak Dhavalikar | Goa | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
2 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Naam Tamilar Katchi | 1958 | Seeman | Tamil Nadu | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Mizo National Front | 1961 | Zoramthanga | Mizoram | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
1 / 245 |
10 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| People's Party of Arunachal | 1977 | Kamen Ringu | Arunachal Pradesh | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
1 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party | 2021 | Pashupati Kumar Paras | Bihar | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Rashtriya Loktantrik Party | 2018 | Hanuman Beniwal | Rajasthan | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Revolutionary Goans Party | 2022 | Viresh Borkar | Goa | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
1 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Revolutionary Socialist Party | 1940 | Manoj Bhattacharya | Kerala | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Samajwadi Party | 1992 | Akhilesh Yadav | Uttar Pradesh | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
37 / 543 |
4 / 245 |
112 / 4,123 |
9 / 426 | |||
| Shiromani Akali Dal | 1920 | Sukhbir Singh Badal | Punjab | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
3 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Sikkim Democratic Front | 1993 | Pawan Kumar Chamling | Sikkim | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Sikkim Krantikari Morcha | 2013 | Prem Singh Tamang | Sikkim | 1 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
32 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Shiv Sena | 2022 | Eknath Shinde | Maharashtra | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
7 / 543 |
1 / 245 |
59 / 4,123 |
8 / 426 | |||
| Shiv Sena (UBT) | 2022 | Uddhav Thackeray | Maharashtra | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
9 / 543 |
2 / 245 |
20 / 4,123 |
6 / 426 | |||
| Tipra Motha Party | 2019 | Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma | Tripura | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
13 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| United Democratic Party | 1997 | Metbah Lyngdoh | Meghalaya | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
11 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| United People's Party Liberal | 2015 | Urkhao Gwra Brahma | Assam | 0 / 31 |
1 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
1 / 245 |
7 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Voice of the People Party | 2021 | Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit | Meghalaya | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
4 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Zoram Nationalist Party | 1997 | H. Lalrinmawia | Mizoram | 0 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
0 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
0 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
| Zoram People's Movement | 2017 | Lalduhoma | Mizoram | 1 / 31 |
0 / 31 |
1 / 543 |
0 / 245 |
27 / 4,123 |
0 / 426 | |||
Unrecognised parties
Historical parties
See also
Notes
- There were 60 state parties listed in publication issued by the Election Commission of India on 23 March 2024. However, two out of 60 parties (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party[3] and People's Democratic Front[4]) have merged with other parties. Additionally, the name and symbol of Lok Janshakti Party and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party have been frozen due to dispute.[5] In January 2025, Janasena Party was recognised as a state party.[6] Naam Tamilar Katchi was recognised as a state party in May 2025.[7][8]
- Indicates only if the party is part of the cabinet of the incumbent state/UT government.
- Includes 12 members nominated by the President of India.
- Excluding five nominated members in Jammu and Kashmir and three nominated members in Puducherry