Context: The contribution reports of only 78 (3.39%) of the total 2,301 registered unrecognized political parties are available in the public domain for 2018-19, while the reports of only 82 such parties (3.56%) for 2017-18 are uploaded on the respective State Chief Electoral Officers’ websites, according to the Association For Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Details:

• The number of these parties increased two-fold in the last 10 years, from 1,112 in 2010 to 2,301 in 2019.
• The figure spiked disproportionately during the year of parliamentary election.
• Between 2018 and 2019, it increased by over 9.8%, while between 2013 and 2014, it increased by 18%.
• There are 2,360 political parties registered with the Election Commission of India and 2,301 or 97.50% of them are unrecognized.

Recognized national political parties:

• A registered party is recognized as a National Party only if it fulfils any one of the following three conditions:
  • The party wins 2 percent of the seats in the Lok Sabha (as of 2014, 11 seats) from at least 3 different States; or
  • At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in four States and in addition it wins 4 Lok Sabha seats from any state or states; or
  • A party gets recognition as a State Party in four or more States.
• Parties recognized as such are given unique symbols which only the official candidates of that party can use. The parties that get these privileges and some other special facilities are recognized by the Election Commission of India for this purpose. That is why these parties are called recognized parties.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/registered-unrecognised-parties-double-in-last-10-years/article33764476.ece

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