The document provides an overview of major national political parties in India, detailing their formation, political positions, ideologies, and support bases. It discusses parties like the Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India, Bahujan Samaj Party, and Aam Aadmi Party, highlighting their roles in the Indian political landscape. Additionally, it mentions the criteria for recognition as national or state parties by the Election Commission of India.

1. NATIONAL PARTIES

3. Indian National Congress
• Formed in 1885
• dominated the Indian movement for independence
• Political position -Centre to centre-left
• Support base-aggregative character
• Certain sections of the population that support Congress more
Middle age & older people ,
SC ,ST, Muslim
 Rural areas
Less of educated people

4. • Congress is a social democratic and social liberal party
• that supports the values of freedom, tolerance, secularism, equality,
and individual rights.
• Its political position is generally considered to be on the centre to
centre-left,
• which involves supporting mixed economy, social security and a
system of progressive taxation
• supported a foreign policy of nonalignment

5. Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)
• Founding year 1980-split from Jantha Party on the RSS issue
• Political Position -Right
• Ideological Base-
Bharatiya Jana Sangh -Hindu Nationalist party founded by Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee
 Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS)
• 4 Core principles –One Country .One Nation , One Culture , One law
• Support base
Hindi speaking states
Western India

6. Urban educated Hindu middle class
Small trader
s ,professionals , white collar workers
• Ideology
Gandhian Socialism
Integral humanism, first formulated by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1965-It is
social and political system, which places man at the centre of the system and
professes the development of Human capital resource
Positive secularism or genuine secularism as against Pseudo secularism
/Muslim appeasement

7. The party expresses a commitment to Hindutva, and its policy has
historically reflected Hindu nationalist positions.
The BJP advocates social conservatism and a foreign policy centred
on nationalist principles.
Abolish Article 370
Uniform Civil Code
Swadeshi

8. COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA
• CPI-December 26,1926
• Position –Left (Right faction within CPI)
• Soviet Union/Russia
• Independence was a historic moment
• Slogan was establishment of National Democracy
• National identity
• Proletariat was the principal force of revolutionary change
• Constitutional communism
• Supported Nehru’s progressive policy
• CPI –LS 2

9. • The CPI has also requested the EC to review its status till after 2024 while citing
the party’s history to defend its national character. “We are one of the oldest
political parties of this country and have even participated in the freedom
struggle. We also continue to have a national presence. We have submitted this
reply to EC and they will now consider it,” said CPI general secretary D Raja.

10. CPI (Marxist)
• Split in communist party 1964
• Political position –Leftist(Left faction of CPI)
• Left faction of the Communism in India
• Was linked with China-pro Peking
• Peoples Democracy
• The transfer of power was only a “settlement ” between British imperialism and
Congress –Indian bourgeoisie tried to establish a compromise with feudalism and
imperialism at the expense of the people
• Regional or subnational identity
• Peasantry

11. • Later CPI(M) modified its pro-Chinese stance and sought to direct the communist
movement in accordance with the political and historical realities existing in India
• Under Jyoti Basu and Namboodripad , party adopted an independent course for
Indian Communists
• Tactic was united front from below , alliance of peasants and workers to defeat
Congress –which was regarded as a party of bourgeoisie and landlord classes
• Elections was used as a mean to mobilise the masses
• They sought to break the constitution from within
• Radical –democratic party
• Its emphasis is on the preservation of democratic institutions

12. • Unity and integrity of India
• Secularism
• Restructuring of Centre –State relations
• Support Base
Middle and lower classes
Mainly working class-agricultural labour, poor peasants
West Bengal , Kerala , Tripura

13. • Present Status –Marginal
• Post independence communist party had a presence in electoral politics
• Consistent decline of communist parties
• In the UPA Coalition they had a good bargaining power-they had around 60 MP’s
• Present Parliament CPI(M) Member of Parliament LS-3,RS-5
• Ruling only in the state of Kerala

14. Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP)
• National party
• 14th
April 1984
• Dalit Resurgence
• Reason-failure of the national parties to provide social justice to the Dalits and
as a result of opportunities provided by a democratic system
• Founder Kanshi Ram ,present party President Mayawathi
• 1982 founded the Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4)
• BSP was a political expression of this social action movement

15. • Ideology
• They preferred to use the term “Dalit” instead of “Harijan ”or “Scheduled Caste
” Why because Dalits means poor or exploited
• Bahujan Samaj –oppressed people overcoming their caste /class/religious
differences
• Central tenet of its ideology is Social Justice –it will provide Dalits their rightful
socio-economic and political position in Indian Society
• State power is essential to create a new social order
• Social engineering from above i.e introducing developmental programmes for
Dalit upliftment and mobilisation rather than a revolution based upon destruction
of social order from below

16. • They criticize both Gandhi and Congress
• They draw inspiration from Ambedkar-BSP’s ideology from Ambedkar is the slogan,
Educate, Agitate and Organise
• There was also a shift from its aggressive ,provocative policy ,and its slogan of ,Tilak ,
taraju aur talwar ,Inko maro jute chaar, to its more pragmatic policy of working for the
Bahujan Samaj now interpreted as ,working for the good of the majority of the people
• BSP had become a political force in Hindi heartland to the extent it can influence or
spoil the electoral fortunes of major political parties
• In South India there are other Dalit formations and BSP has not been able to enter there
• LS -10 seats from Uttar Pradesh

17. Nationalist Congress Party(NCP)
• Formed on 25 May 1999
• Foundation Day June 10 ,1999
• Founder and National President Sharad Pawar
• Founders Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar after they were expelled
from the Indian National Congress (INC) on 20 May 1999, for disputing the right
of Italian-born Sonia Gandhi to lead the party.
• At the time of formation of the NCP, the Indian Congress (Socialist) party merged
with the new party.
• Symbol - an analogue clock
• The party's primary base is the state of Maharashtra
• Chatrapathi Shivaji,Mahatma Phule,Ambedkar

18. • Liberalism
• The party’s ideology emphasized social inclusion and the welfare of the common
masses
• Commitment to social justice for the neglected and deprived masses ,
socialization of the interests of poor peasants and workers , woman
empowerment and child welfare
• Base rural Maharashtra
• Agriculture –Sugarcane

19. • 2004 part of UPA Alliance
• Alliance-in Centre Congress led UPA
• In Kerala Left Front
• Part of Mahaghadi in Maharashtra-Shiva sena +Congress +NCP

20. All India Trinamool Congress
• 1st
January 1998
• Founder and President Mamta Banarjee –split from Congress
• West Bengal, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh
• Symbol-exclusive symbol of Jora Ghas Phul-two buds on the tree,
Hindu and Muslim. If one of them is the eye, then the other is life).
• Slogan -Ma Mati Manush
• Mother, Motherland and People“
• Ideology –Bengali Nationalism , Populism ,Anti Communism
• Political Position-Centre ,Centre -Right

21. National People's Party
• 2013
• Founder -P A Sangma –split from NCP
• President –Conrad Sangma
• its influence is mostly concentrated in the state of Meghalaya
• Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur
• first political party from Northeastern India to have attained this status
• The NPP got the status of national party in 2019, after it was recognised as a
state party in four states — Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and
Meghalaya.
• Its election symbol is a book . The significance for the same is that the party
believes that only literacy and education can empower the weaker sections.

22. • Types of Parties:
• The Election Commission of India lists political parties as “national
party”, “state party” or “registered (unrecognised) party”.
• The conditions for being listed as a national or a state party are
specified under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment)
Order, 1968.

23. • National Party:
• For recognition as a national party, a party has to satisfy these conditions:
• 6% valid votes polled in any four or more states at a general election to
the Lok Sabha or to the State legislative assembly; and, in addition, it wins
four seats in the Lok Sabha from any state or states.
• 2% of all Lok Sabha seats in the last such election, with MPs elected from
at least three states.
• Recognition as a state party in at least four states.

24. Aam Aadmi Party(aap)
• Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, English: Common Man's Party) launched on 26 November 2012
• Offshoot of India Against Corruption Movement led by Anna Hazare
• Anna Hazare wanted to keep the movement
• Founders –Arvind Kejriwal ,Manish Sisodia, Prashant Bhushan
• Symbol –Broom
• Party President-Arvind Kejriwal
• Political position-Centre to Centre left
• The swaraj model lays stress on self-governance, community building, and decentralization

25. • Ideology
Anti corruption
Participatory Democracy
Populism
Civic Nationalism
Programmes
Education-Has stressed a lot on improving Government schools. the AAP government
scrapped all admission quotas from private schools except for children from extremely
weak socioeconomic backgrounds
Health-Mohalla Clinic -to provide consultations, medicine, and tests free of cost to
patients-lauded by United Nations World Health Organization

26. • It established an anti-graft helpline for citizens to report corrupt officials
• Party funding will be transparent
• To bring down the practice of dynastic politics or family politics in political
parties , laid a rule that only one person from a family can hold political position
in the party

27. • For recognition as a state party, any one of five conditions needs to be satisfied:
• Two seats plus a 6% vote share in the last Assembly election in that state.
• One seat plus a 6% vote share in the last Lok Sabha election from that state.
• 3% of the total Assembly seats or 3 seats, whichever is more.
• One of every 25 Lok Sabha seats (or an equivalent fraction) from a state.
• An 8% state-wide vote share in either the last Lok Sabha or the last Assembly
polls.

28. • Loss of Recognized Status:

Once recognised as a national or a state party, a political party loses its given
status only if it fails to fulfil any of the conditions for two successive Assembly
and two successive Lok Sabha elections.
That means a party retains that status irrespective of its performance in the next
elections.

29. • EC grants AAP national party status; withdraws it for the TMC, CPI, and
NCP
• The AAP has the status of a national party as it secured nearly 13%
vote share and five seats in the Gujarat Assembly polls earlier this
year, making it a State party in Delhi, Goa, Punjab and Gujarat
• With the removal of the NCP, the CPI and the TMC, there are
now only six national parties in the country — the BJP, the
Congress, the National People’s Party (NPP), Communist
Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP),
and the latest addition, the AAP.