Explained: What are ECI criteria for state party to be recognised as national party?

Hyderabad: On 5 October, on the occasion of Dussehra, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced that his party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), will from now on be a national party and will be known as Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Just by changing its name, does a state party become a national party? According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines, what are the criteria for a state party to be recognised as a national party?

What is a recognized national party?

Prof. K. Nageshwar Rao, a journalism professor at Osmania University, explains how a national party is different from a recognised national party. "By changing the name to national, a party can become a national party but not a recognised national party, recognised by ECI. As per ECI guidelines, there are certain criteria that it has to fulfill to be recognised as a national party," said Prof. Rao.

As per ECI guidelines, a registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfills any one of these three conditions:

1. The party wins 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states.

2. The party polls 6% of votes in any four or more states and also wins four Lok Sabha seats in a general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly.

3. The party gets recognition as a state party in four states.

As per ECI's latest statistics as of 23 September 2021, there are a total of 2,858 parties registered with the ECI out of which eight are national parties, 54 state parties, and 2,796 unrecognised parties. The eight recognised national parties are All India Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, and National Peoples Party.

On Wednesday, a letter was sent by the BRS leaders to the ECI informing them about the name change. "Telangana Rashtra Samithi in its state general body meeting dated 5 October 2022 has passed a resolution to change the name of the party from Telangana Rashtra Samithi to Bharat Rashtra Samithi. To that effect, necessary amendments to the party constitution have also been made in the same meeting," read the letter.

So, in effect, the registration of BRS as a national party will depend on the number of votes that it secures in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Till then, it will continue to be a state party.