Explained | What is a national party?

A national party is eligible to set up an office in the national capital and obtain two free sets of electoral rolls at the time of the revision, without charge

With the Aam Aadmi Party winning the Punjab elections, it has been mooted in political circles that the party is set to become a national force and that 2024 would follow the theme of 'Modi vs Kejriwal'.

The Trinamool Congress, besides the AAP, also made its foray into the Goa political scene, in order to garner the image of a national party as it seeks to spearhead an Opposition front to oust the BJP from the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In this context, it becomes important to understand what a national party is.

Technically, a party needs to bag at least 6 per cent of the vote share in four or more states in the Lok Sabha or state assembly elections. In addition, for a party to be considered national, it also needs to secure at least four seats in the Lok Sabha from single or multiple states.

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This would also indicate that the party has made inroads into the local political scene in four states, thereby transcending into a national party.

The advantage of being a national party is that it can use its unique symbol to contest all elections, is eligible to set up an office in the national capital and obtain two free sets of electoral rolls at the time of the revision, without charge.

Besides, a national party can nominate 40 star campaigners for the Lok Sabha election campaigning.

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