List of political parties in India explained

India has a multi-party system. The Election Commission of India (ECI) accords to national-level and state-level political parties based upon objective criteria. A recognised political party enjoys privileges like a reserved party symbol, free broadcast time on state-run television and radio, consultation in the setting of election dates, and giving input in setting electoral rules and regulations. Other political parties that wish to contest local, state, or national elections are required to be registered by the Election Commission of India. Registered parties are upgraded as recognised national parties or state parties by the ECI if they meet the relevant criteria after a Lok Sabha or state legislative assembly election. The recognised party status is reviewed periodically by the ECI.

Before the amendment in 2016 (which came into force on 1 January 2014), if a political party failed to fulfill the criteria in the subsequent Lok Sabha or state legislative assembly election, they lost their status as a recognised party. In 2016, the ECI announced that such a review would take place after two consecutive elections instead of every election. Therefore, a political party shall retain the recognised party status even if they do not meet the criteria in the next election. However, if they fail to meet the criteria in the subsequent election following the next election, they would lose their status.

As per latest publications dated 23 March 2024 from Election Commission of India, and subsequent notifications, there are 6 national parties,[1] 57 state parties,[2] and 2,764 unrecognised parties.[3] All registered parties contesting elections need to choose a symbol from a list of available symbols offered by the EC. All 28 states of the country along with the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, National Capital Territory of Delhi, and Puducherry have elected governments unless President's rule is imposed under certain condition.

National parties

A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfils any one of the three conditions listed below:[4]

Party!rowspan=2 class="unsortable"
FlagElection
symbol
Political
position
IdeologyFoundedLeaderGovernment in states/UTsSeats
Chief ministersAlliance partnerLok SabhaRajya SabhaState
assemblies
State
councils
CentreProgressivism
Welfarism
Social liberalism
Populism
Anti-corruption
Indian nationalism
Arvind Kejriwal
Centre to Centre-leftConstitutionalism
Republicanism
Ambedkarism
Progressivism
Secularism
Egalitarianism
Self-Respect
Mayawati
Right-wing to far-rightConservatism (India)
Hindutva
Hindu nationalism
Integral humanism
Right-wing populism
Neoliberalism
J. P. Nadda
Left-wing to far-leftCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
Sitaram Yechury
Centre to Centre-leftBig tent
Secularism
Civic nationalism
Social democracy
Liberalism (India)
Mallikarjun Kharge
Centre-rightChristian democracy
Conservatism
Liberal conservatism
Cultural conservatism
Conrad Sangma

State parties

A registered party is recognised as a state party only if it fulfils any one of the four conditions listed below:[4]

Party!rowspan=2 class=unsortable
Flag/LogoElection
symbol
Political
position
IdeologyFoundedLeader(s)State(s)Government in states/UTsSeats
Chief minister Alliance partnerLok SabhaRajya SabhaState
assemblies
State
councils
State party in three states
Right-wingMajority:
Muslim nationalism[5]
Conservatism
Minority politics[6]
Right-wing populismFactions:
Dalit Rights[7]
1927Asaduddin OwaisiBihar
Maharashtra
Telangana
Left-wing to far-leftCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
1925D. RajaKerala
Manipur
Tamil Nadu
Left-wingSocialism (India)
Left-wing populism
1997Lalu Prasad Yadav
Tejashwi Yadav
Bihar
Jharkhand
Kerala
State party in two states
Centre[8] to centre-left[9] 1972Edappadi K. PalaniswamiPuducherry
Tamil Nadu
Centre to centre-rightBengali nationalism
Regionalism
Populism
Welfarism
Economic liberalism
Anti-communism
1998Mamata BanerjeeMeghalaya
West Bengal
Far-leftCommunism[10]
Marxism–Leninism
Maoism
1974Dipankar BhattacharyaBihar
Jharkhand
Left-wing1949M. K. StalinPuducherry
Tamil Nadu
Right-wingMuslim nationalism
Conservatism
Islamic modernism[11]
1948Hyderali Shihab ThangalKerala
Tamil Nadu
Left-wingSocialism (India)1999H. D. Deve GowdaKarnataka
Kerala
Centre-leftDemocratic socialism[12]
Populism
2003Nitish KumarBihar
Manipur
Regionalism2021Chirag PaswanBihar
Nagaland
Centre-right2002Kuzholuzo NienuManipur
Nagaland
CentreIndian nationalism
Gandhism
1999Ajit PawarMaharashtra
Nagaland
CentreIndian nationalism
Gandhism
2024Sharad PawarMaharashtra
Nagaland
Left-wingSocialism[13]
Democratic socialism
Left-wing populism[14]
1992Akhilesh YadavUttar Pradesh
Gujarat
Far-rightConservatism
Social conservatism
Hindutva
Hindu nationalism
Marathi nationalism
Regionalism
Ultranationalism
Neo-fascism
Economic Nationalism
Right-wing Populism
1966Eknath ShindeMaharashtraRajasthan
State party in one state
Left-wingLeft-wing nationalism
Socialism
Marxism[15]
Anti-imperialism
1939Debabrata BiswasWest Bengal
Centre-leftSocial democracy
Populism
2011N. RangaswamyPuducherry
2005Badruddin AjmalAssam
1986Sudesh MahtoJharkhand
Centre-rightKurmis Interest2016Anupriya PatelUttar Pradesh
Centre-rightAssamese nationalism
Regionalism
Anti-Bengali sentiment
1985Atul BoraAssam
to centre-rightRegionalism[16]
Separatism
Federalism
Populism[17]
Neoliberalism
2001K. Chandrashekar RaoTelangana
Centre to centre-leftOdia nationalism
Regionalism[18]
Social liberalism[19]
Economic nationalism[20]
Populism
1997Naveen PatnaikOdisha
Centre-left2005Hagrama MohilaryAssam
Centre-leftDravidian nationalism
Social democracy
Populism
2005Premalalatha VijayakantTamil Nadu
Regionalism2016Vijai SardesaiGoa
1968KP PangniangMeghalaya
Regionalism1996Om Prakash ChautalaHaryana
Centre-rightTripuri nationalism
Regionalism
Anti-immigration
Anti-communism
2009N.C. DebbarmaTripura
Kashmiriyat
Kashmir autonomy
Secularism
1932Farooq AbdullahJammu and Kashmir
Kashmiriyat
Kashmir autonomy
Regionalism
1999Mehbooba MuftiJammu and Kashmir
Centre2014Pawan KalyanAndhra Pradesh
Regionalism2016Renu JogiChhattisgarh
Centre-left2018Dushyant ChautalaHaryana
Regionalism1972Shibu Soren
Hemant Soren
Jharkhand
Centre-leftDemocratic socialism[21]
Welfarism[22]
Christian left
1979Jose K. ManiKerala
Far-rightHindutva[23]
Marathi nationalism
Regionalism[24] [25]
Ultranationalism[26]
Right-wing populism[27]
2006Raj ThackerayMaharashtra
Populism
Regionalism
1963Deepak DhavalikarGoa
[28]
Conservative Christianity[29]
Zo Unification[30]
1961ZoramthangaMizoram
Far-rightTamil nationalism
Regionalism
Ultranationalism
Environmentalism
1968Senthamizhan SeemanTamil Nadu
Regionalism2017Neiphiu RioNagaland
Regionalism1977Kamen RinguArunachal Pradesh
Regionalism2018Hanuman BeniwalRajasthan
Regionalism
Nativism
2022Viresh BorkarGoa
Far-leftCommunism
Marxism–Leninism[31]
Revolutionary socialism
1940Manoj Bhattacharya[32] Kerala
Centre-rightPunjabiyat[33] [34]
Conservatism[35]
Federalism[36] [37]
1920Sukhbir Singh BadalPunjab
Centre-leftDemocratic socialism1993Pawan Kumar ChamlingSikkim
Centre-leftDemocratic socialism2013Prem Singh TamangSikkim
Centre-rightConservatism
Secularism
Marathi nationalism
Regionalism
2022Uddhav ThackerayMaharashtra
Centre[38] to centre-right[39] Telugu nationalism
Federalism
Populism[40]
Economic liberalism[41]
Neoliberalism
1982N. Chandrababu NaiduAndhra Pradesh
Telangana
[42]
Far-rightTripuri nationalism
Regionalism
Tipraland statehood
Separatism
Right-wing populism
Anti-immigration
2019Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb BarmaTripura
Regionalism
Populism
1997Metbah LyngdohMeghalaya
Regionalism2015Urkhao Gwra BrahmaAssam
SyncreticTamil nationalism
Social justice
Anti-casteism
Anti-classism
1982Thol. ThirumavalavanTamil Nadu
Regionalism
Federalism
Anti-corruption
Secularism
Social justice
2021Ardent Miller BasaiawmoitMeghalaya
Centre to centre-left[43] Regionalism
Populism
Economic nationalism
2011Y. S. Jagan Mohan ReddyAndhra Pradesh
Centre-rightZoram nationalism
Conservatism
Christian right
2017LalduhomaMizoram

Unrecognised parties

This list does not show all the unrecognised parties, but only the notable ones. There are more than 2700 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties(RUPPs) in India.

Notable Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs)
PartyFoundedLeader(s)States
Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha1915Jagan bAll-India
All India Hindustan Congress Party2015Buddh Prakash SharmaGujarat
Rajasthan
All India Mahila Empowerment Party2017Nowhera ShaikTelangana
Karnataka
Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazhagam2018T. T. V. DhinakaranTamil Nadu
Amra Bangali1983Prabhat Ranjan SarkarWest Bengal
Tripura
Azad Adhikar Sena2022Amitabh Thakur, Dr Nutan ThakurUttar Pradesh
Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram)2020Chanda Shekhar AzadUttar Pradesh
Bahujan Mukti Party2012V. L. MatangBihar
Uttar Pradesh
Bharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh1983Sundar ShaekharMaharashtra
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha2007Bimal GurungWest Bengal
Goa Suraksha Manch2016Subhash VelingkarGoa
Gondwana Ganatantra Party1991Hira Singh MarkamChhattisgarh
Jharkhand
Maharashtra
Hindu Sena2011Vishnu GuptaNew Delhi
Hindustani Awam Morcha[44] 2015Jitan Ram ManjhiBihar
Indiya Jananayaka Katchi2010T. R. PaarivendharTamil Nadu
Indian Gandhiyan Party2012Aashin U SKerala
Indian Secular Front2021Nawsad SiddiqueWest Bengal
Ittehad-e-Millat Council2001Tauqeer Raza KhanUttar Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party2020Altaf BukhariJammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir Workers Party2020Mir JunaidJammu and Kashmir
Jan Shakti Party of India[45] 2015Gurjeet Singh AzadPunjab
Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik)2018Raghuraj Pratap SinghUttar Pradesh
Karnataka Rashtra Samithi2019Ravi Krishna ReddyKarnataka
Kerala Congress1964P. J. JosephKerala
Kerala Congress (B)1989K B Ganesh KumarKerala
Kerala Congress (Jacob)1991Anoop JacobKerala
Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi2013E. R. EswaranTamil Nadu
Kongunadu Makkal Katchi2000A. M. RajaTamil Nadu
Lok Satta Party2006Jaya Prakash NarayanaAndhra Pradesh
Telangana
Lok Insaaf Party2019Simarjit Singh BainsPunjab
Makkal Needhi Maiam2018Kamal HaasanTamil Nadu
Puducherry
Manipur Peoples Party1968Sovakiran N.Manipur
Manithaneya Makkal Katchi2009M. H. JawahirullahTamil Nadu
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam1992VaikoTamil Nadu
Puducherry
NISHAD Party2016Sanjay NishadUttar Pradesh
Odisha Jan Morcha2013Pyarimohan MohapatraOdisha
Param Digvijay Dal2014Krishna Mohan Shankar YogiUttar Pradesh
Pattali Makkal Katchi1989S. RamadossPuducherry
Tamil Nadu
Peace Party of India2008Mohamed AyubUttar Pradesh
People's Democratic Alliance (Manipur)2012Bd. Behring AnalManipur
People's Democratic Front2001Ajoy BiswasTripura
Plurals Party2020Pushpam Priya ChoudharyBihar
Puthiya Tamilagam1996K. KrishnasamyTamil Nadu
Raijor Dal2020Akhil GogoiAssam
Rashtriya Jan Jan Party2020Ashutosh KumarBihar
Rashtriya Lok Dal1996Jayant ChaudharyUttar Pradesh
Rajasthan
Rashtriya Mahaswaraj Bhumi Party2023Shahid SiddiquiMaharashtra
Gujarat
Rashtriya Samaj Paksha2003Mahadev JankarMaharashtra
Kerala
Rashtriya Ulama Council2008Aamir Rashadi MadniUttar Pradesh
Republican Party of India (Athawale)1999Ramdas AthawaleNagaland
Right to Recall Party2019Rahul Chimanbhai MehtaAll-India
Samata Party1994Uday Mandal[46] Bihar
Manipur[47]
Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar)1994Simranjit Singh MannPunjab
Social Democratic Party of India2009M.K. FaizyKarnataka
Kerala
Tamil Nadu
Socialist Party (India)2011Thampan ThomasUttar Pradesh
Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)1948Provash GhoshAll-India
Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party2002Om Prakash RajbharUttar Pradesh
Bihar
Swaraj Abhiyan2016Yogendra YadavHaryana
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Tamil Maanila Congress1996G. K. VasanTamil Nadu
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam2024VijayTamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu Kongu Ilaingar Peravai2001U. ThaniyarasuTamil Nadu
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal1979Kashi Singh AiryUttarakhand
Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi2018Prakash Yashwant AmbedkarMaharashtra
Vikassheel Insaan Party2018Mukesh SahaniBihar
Welfare Party of India2011S. Q. R. IlyasAll-India

Defunct political parties

Party flagElection symbol IdeologyFoundedDissolved
Gujarat Parivartan Party20122014
Scheduled Castes FederationSocial equality
Social justice
19421957
Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress19451957
Socialist Party of IndiaSocialism19481952
Lok Sewak Sangh19481971
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya ParishadHindu nationalism19481971
All India Ganatantra ParishadLiberalism
Agrarianism
19501962
Tamil Nadu Toilers' Party19511954
Commonweal Party19511954
People's Democratic FrontCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
19511958
Krishikar Lok Party19511959
Chota Nagpur Santhal Parganas Janata PartyRegionalism19511960
Bharatiya Jana SanghHindu nationalism
National conservatism
19511977
Praja Socialist PartySocialism19521972
Swatantra PartyLiberal conservatism
Secularism
19591974
Samyukta Socialist PartySocialism19641977
Bangla Congress19671971
Bharatiya Kranti Dal19671974
Utkal Congress19691974
Indian National Congress (Organisation)19691977
Pragati Legislature Party19731974
Congress for Democracy19771977
Secularism1979 1980
Indian Congress (Socialist)19781986
Indian National Congress (U)19791981
Indian National Congress (Jagjivan)19811988
Jan Morcha19871988
Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani19881989
Janata Dal19881999
Lok Shakti19982003
Lok Janshakti Party20002021
Loktantrik Janata Dal20182022

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 26 March 2024 . List of National Parties . 17 April 2024 . . PDF.
  2. Web site: 23 March 2024 . List of State Parties . 17 April 2024 . . PDF.
  3. Web site: 27 March 2024 . List of RUPPs . 17 April 2024 . . PDF.
  4. Web site: The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 . . 3 October 2022 .
  5. Web site: Will fight back to save India's composite culture, Constitution: Asaduddin Owaisi. 26 May 2019.
  6. Web site: Minority Upliftment. 31 July 2024.
  7. Web site: AIMIM eyes minorities and Dalits in Malda. 31 July 2024.
  8. Web site: AIADMK. The Times of India. 16 March 2021. 14 September 2023.
  9. Book: Ogden, Chris. A Dictionary of Politics and International Relations in India. 20 June 2019. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-253915-1. en. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Tamil: 'All India Anna Dravidian Progress Federation') A political party. It was established in 1972.... 11 November 2022. 9 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230309044206/https://books.google.com/books?id=hksIEAAAQBAJ. live.
  10. Web site: General Programme of CPI(ML). 6 April 2013. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) website. en-US. 23 March 2020. 8 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200408034607/http://cpiml.org/documents-2/10th-congress-cpiml/general-programme-of-cpiml/. dead.
  11. News: Atheist Fundamentalists . The Times of India.
  12. Web site: Daily News and Analysis. Lok Sabha Elections 2014: Know your party symbols!. 10 April 2014.
  13. Book: India at the Polls: Parliamentary Elections in the Federal Phase. 78. Orient Blackswan. 2003. Mahendra Prasad. Singh. Rekha. Saxena. 978-8-125-02328-9.
  14. News: Zee News. Mulayam's son Prateek Yadav attracts eye balls during ride in Rs 5 crore Lamborghini. 14 January 2017.
  15. Web site: Party constitution. All India Forward Bloc. 22 April 2017. India. 2017.
  16. Web site: Hyderabad. K. VENKATESHWARLU in. Regionalism and sub-regionalism. 23 April 2004. 14 September 2020. Frontline. en.
  17. News: The Tribune. One year of Telangana a mixed bag for KCR. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), led by Chandrasekhar Rao, took over the reins of the new state amid euphoria and high expectations. ... Blending boldness with populism, KCR has earned the reputation for being a tough task master. 20 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180721014401/https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/one-year-of-telangana-a-mixed-bag-for-kcr/88791.html. 21 July 2018. live.
  18. Encyclopedia: Encyclopædia Britannica. Biju Janata Dal. 27 January 2024 .
  19. Web site: Daily News and Analysis. Lok Sabha Elections 2014: Know your party symbols!. 10 April 2014. Founded in December 1997, the Biju Janata Dal or the BJD is a regional political party of India. Having split from the larger faction Janata Dal, the party stands by democracy and liberalism..
  20. News: Fighting economic nationalism in deals . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/f5a8ac82-5938-11db-9eb1-0000779e2340 . 10 December 2022 . subscription . live . Capron . Laurence . Guillén . Mauro . 12 October 2006 . Financial Times . 22 May 2018.
  21. Web site: K M Mani honoured at British Parliament Hall. 7 September 2012. 20 March 2021. The New Indian Express.
  22. Web site: KM Mani: The man behind the 'Theory of the Toiling Class'. 10 April 2019. 20 March 2021. The New Indian Express.
  23. News: CanIndia. Raj Thackeray goes right ahead with 'Hindutva'and development agenda for MNS. 23 January 2020. 28 October 2021. 19 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210519032327/https://www.canindia.com/raj-thackeray-goes-right-ahead-with-hindutva-agenda-for-mns/. dead.
  24. News: Hindustan Times. Munde still keen on alliance with MNS. 2 March 2011.
  25. Web site: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. 29 March 2019. Election MS.
  26. News: Foreign Policy. How Pakistan Fell in Love With Bollywood. 15 March 2010.
  27. Book: Bedi, Tarini. The Dashing Ladies of Shiv Sena. 42. SUNY Press. 2016.
  28. Web site: Mizo nationalism our driving force: CM Zoramthanga . 21 September 2021 .
  29. Web site: You are being redirected.... nagalandpost.com. 31 July 2024.
  30. Web site: Mizoram-ahead of polls mnf renewed call for zo unification creates political-flutter.
  31. Book: Bidyut Chakrabarty. Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies. 2014. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-997489-4. 61.
  32. Web site: Indian citizenship act against humanity: Manoj Bhattacharya. prothomalo.com. March 2020.
  33. News: SAD aims to widen reach, to contest UP poll . Chandigarh . The Tribune . 8 October 2015 . 8 October 2015.
  34. News: Pandher . Sarabjit . In post-Independence India, the SAD launched the Punjabi Suba morcha in the 1960s, seeking the re-organisation of Punjab on linguistic basis. . The Hindu . 3 September 2013 . 15 September 2015.
  35. Book: Grover, Verinder. Encyclopaedia of India and Her States: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab, Volume 4. 1996. Deep & Deep. 578.
  36. News: Parkash Singh Badal calls for 'genuinely federal structure' for country . The Economic Times . 7 December 2014 . 10 October 2019.
  37. Web site: Bharti . Vishav . Article 370: SAD 'dumps' its core ideology of federalism . The Tribune . 6 August 2019 . 4 June 2024.
  38. Web site: Tumultuous transition . 27 May 2017 .
  39. Web site: Why no centre-right political party in India today? . 16 February 2014 .
  40. Web site: Encyclopedia Britannica . February 2024 .
  41. Price . Pamela . Srinivas . Dusi . Anastasia . Piliavsky . August 2014 . Patronage and autonomy in India's deepening democracy . Cambridge University Press . 217–236 . 10.1017/CBO9781107296930.011 . 9781107296930 .
  42. https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/whos-who/chief-ministers
  43. Web site: This is how Jagan Reddy has turned into a political juggernaut in Andhra. . 25 September 2021 .
  44. News: Manjhi's HAM recognised by poll panel . . 19 July 2015 . 25 November 2016.
  45. Web site: June 2015 Notification. Election Commission of India. 2 . 17 September 2016.
  46. Web site: महंगाई व बेरोजगारी के खिलाफ किया प्रदर्शन. 7 May 2021. www.livehindustan.com.
  47. Web site: SAMATA PARTY – Official Website. 8 February 2022. en-US. 15 February 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220215101928/https://samataparty.org/. dead.