List of political parties in India
The Constitution of India stipulates that India be a federal polity with a central government in New Delhi, and state governments for the various states and Union territories. Consequently, political parties in India are classified as national and state (regional) parties based on their realms of influence.
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2 State parties 3 Unknown 4 Coalitions 5 Common Terms 6 External Link |
National parties are those that are recognized in four or more states. They are accorded this status by the Election Commission, which periodically reviews the election results in various states. This recognition helps the political parties to claim unique ownership of certain identities like the party symbol till the next review of their status.
Although many parties have terms like "national" or "All India" as part of their name, very few are actually national parties. The rest are state parties and can best be described as "wannabes".
The English translation of vernacular names are enclosed in paranthesis. It is to be note however, that these parties seldom use the English names.
If you know the status of any of the parties below please move it to the appropriate list above
Since 1990, the Indian electorate has consistently thrown fragmented verdicts both at the state and national levels. This has led parties with minimal (and sometimes considerable) ideological differences to come together as a loose federation of parties to stake claim for power. The following are coalitions of political parties in India.
National parties
State parties
Unknown
Coalitions
Common Terms
The following Hindi terms may be useful in understanding the names of Indian political parties:
- Bharatiya - Indian
- Rashtriya - National
- Janata, Lok - People
- Dal, Parishad - Party
