List of recognised political parties in India

Indian state governments led by various political parties as of March 2009

India has a multi-party system with a predominance of small regional parties. Political parties that wish to contest local, state or national elections are required to be registered by the Election Commission of India (EC). In order to gain recognition in a state, the party must have had political activity for at least five continuous years, and send at least 4% of the state's quota to the Lok Sabha (India's Lower house), or 3.33% of members to that state's assembly. These conditions are deemed to have failed if a member of the Lok Sabha or the Legislative Assembly of the State becomes a member of that political party after his election. If a party is recognised in four or more states, it is declared as a "National party" by the EC. Otherwise, it is known as a "State Party."^[1]

All parties contesting elections have to choose a symbol from a list of available symbols offered by the Election Commission. All 28 states along with the union territory of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi usually have an elected government unless President's rule is imposed under certain conditions.

National

Seven parties are recognised as national parties.^[E] They are listed by name, together with acronym, year of formation and the party leader.^[2]

S.N.	Symbol	Flag	Name	Acronym	Year[3]	Party leader
1.			Bahujan Samaj Party	BSP	1984	Mayawati
2.			Bharatiya Janata Party	BJP	1980	Gadkari, NitinNitin Gadkari
3.			Communist Party of India	CPI	1925[B]	Bardhan, A.B.A.B. Bardhan
4.			Communist Party of India (Marxist)	CPI (M)	1964	Karat, PrakashPrakash Karat
5.			Indian National Congress	INC	1885	Gandhi, SoniaSonia Gandhi
6.			Nationalist Congress Party	NCP	1999	Pawar, SharadSharad Pawar

rest

State

If a party is recognised as a state party by the Election Commission, it can reserve a symbol for its exclusive use in the state. The following are a list of recognised state parties as of September 2009.^[4]

some other parties|

Symbol	Name	Acronym	Year[3]	Party leader	States
	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	AIADMK	1972	Jayalalitha, J.J. Jayalalitha	Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
	All India Forward Bloc	AIFB	1939	Biswas, DebabrataDebabrata Biswas	West Bengal
	All India Trinamool Congress	AITC	1998	Banerjee, MamtaMamta Banerjee	Meghalaya, West Bengal
—	All India United Democratic Front	AUDF	2004	Ajmal, BadruddinBadruddin Ajmal	Assam
	Arunachal Congress	AC	1996	Ringu, KamenKamen Ringu	Arunachal Pradesh
—	Asom Gana Parishad	AGP	1985	Mahanta, Prafulla KumarPrafulla Kumar Mahanta	Assam
	Biju Janata Dal	BJD	1997	Patnaik, NaveenNaveen Patnaik	Orissa
—	Bodoland People's Front	BPF			Assam
	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	DMK	1949	Karunanidhi, MM Karunanidhi	Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
—	Haryana Janhit Congress (BL)	HJC(BL)			Haryana
Indian National Lok Dal	INLD	1999	Chautala, Om PrakashOm Prakash Chautala	Haryana
	Jammu & Kashmir National Conference	JKNC	1932	Abdullah, OmarOmar Abdullah	Jammu and Kashmir
	Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party	JKNPP	NA[D]	Singh, BhimBhim Singh	Jammu and Kashmir
	Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party	PDP	1998	Sayeed, Mufti MohammedMufti Mohammed Sayeed	Jammu and Kashmir
	Janata Dal (Secular)	JD (S)	1999	Deve Gowda, H.D.H.D. Deve Gowda	Karnataka, Kerala
	Janata Dal (United)	JD (U)	1999	Kumar, NitishNitish Kumar	Bihar, Jharkhand
	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	JMM	1972	Soren, ShibuShibu Soren	Jharkhand, Orissa
	Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)	JVM(P)			Jharkhand
	Kerala Congress	KEC	1964	Joseph, P.J.P.J. Joseph	Kerala
	Kerala Congress (Mani)	KEC (M)	1979	Thomas, C.F.C.F. Thomas	Kerala
—	Lok Jan Shakti Party	LJSP	2000	Paswan, Ram VilasRam Vilas Paswan	Bihar
	Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party	MAG	1963	Kakodkar, ShashikalaShashikala Kakodkar	Goa
	Manipur People's Party	MPP	1968	Singh, O. JoyO. Joy Singh	Manipur
	Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	MDMK	1993	Vaiko	Tamil Nadu
	Mizo National Front	MDF	1959	Zoramthanga, PuPu Zoramthanga	Mizoram
	Mizoram People's Conference	MPC	1972	Lalhmingthanga, PuPu Lalhmingthanga	Mizoram
	Muslim League Kerala State Committee	MUL	1948	Banatwalla, G.M.G.M. Banatwalla	Kerala
	Nagaland People's Front	NPF	2002	Rio, NeiphiuNeiphiu Rio	Nagaland
	National People's Party	NPP			Manipur
	Pattali Makkal Katchi	PMK	1989	Mani, G. K.G. K. Mani	Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
	Praja Rajyam Party	PRP			Andhra Pradesh
—	Pudhucherry Munnetra Congress	PMC	2005	Kannan, P.P. Kannan	Puducherry
	Rashtriya Lok Dal	RLD			Uttar Pradesh
	Revolutionary Socialist Party	RSP	1940	Chandrachoodan, T.J.T.J. Chandrachoodan	West Bengal
	Samajwadi Party	SP	1992	Yadav, Mulayam SinghMulayam Singh Yadav	Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand
—	Save Goa Front	SGF	NA	Alemao, ChurchillChurchill Alemao	Goa
	Shiromani Akali Dal	SAD	1920	Badal, Parkash SinghParkash Singh Badal	Punjab
	Shiv Sena	SHS	1966	Thackeray, UddhavUddhav Thackeray[C]	Maharashtra
	Sikkim Democratic Front	SDF	1993	Chamling, Pawan KumarPawan Kumar Chamling	Sikkim
	Telangana Rashtra Samithi	TRS	2001	Rao, K. ChandrashekarK. Chandrashekar Rao	Andhra Pradesh
	Telugu Desam Party	TDP	1982	Naidu, N. ChandrababuN. Chandrababu Naidu	Andhra Pradesh
	United Democratic Party	UDP	NA	Roy, DonkuparDonkupar Roy	Meghalaya
	Uttarakhand Kranti Dal	UKKD	1979	Tripathi, Bipin ChandraBipin Chandra Tripathi	Uttarakhand
	Zoram Nationalist Party	ZNP	1997	Lalduhoma	Mizoram

Notes

• ^A , the BSP may use its symbol in all states except Sikkim and Assam, where its candidates have to choose another symbol.^[2] The BSP at the moment does not have a presence in these two states.
• ^B According to the CPI(M), the breakaway faction, the CPI was founded in 1920 in Tashkent.^[5]
• ^C Uddhav Thackeray is the working president of the Shiv Sena. The overall command is held by his father and party founder Bal Thackeray.^[6]
• ^D NA – The exact year of formation is not available
• ^E This listing is based on the situation at the September 2009 assembly elections. Source:^[4]

References

General

• "Current recognised parties" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 2009-03-14. http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/ElectoralLaws/OrdersNotifications/Symbols_Sep_2009.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 

Specific