In the seven years since the first Lok Sabha election, the number of political parties in the country has dropped from 14 to 6

Over the past seventy years, the number of political parties in the country has shrunk from 14 to 6. (representative)

New Delhi:

In 1951, 53 political parties participated in the first Lok Sabha polls. Today, the number of political parties exceeds 2,500. However, over seventy years, the number of political parties nationwide has shrunk from 14 to 6.

Six national political parties will participate in the general election in May to elect the 18th Lok Sabha. The journey of political parties over the years has been an interesting journey, from mergers to the emergence of new players, some of which no longer exist.

A total of 53 political parties participated in the first election, 14 of which were considered “national parties” and the rest.

According to the book “Leap of Faith” published by the Election Commission of India, which records the electoral history of India, before the 1953 general election, as many as 29 political parties claimed national party status.

“It was decided to grant statehood to only 14 of them. However, the election results were sobering for most of them and only four were allowed to retain statehood,” the book reads.

By 1953, the four national parties were the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (formed from the merger of the Samajwadi Party and the Kisan Mazdoor Party), the Communist Party of India and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The parties that have lost their national tag are the Bharatiya Janata Party (HMS), the All India Jan Sangh (BJS), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), the All India Scheduled Castes Federation (SCF), the All India Forward Bloc (a Marxist group) (FBL- MG) and the All India Forward Group (Ruikar Group) (FBL-RG), Krishkar Lok Party (KLP), Bolshevik Party of India (BPI) and Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI).

The Socialist Party and the Kisan Mazdor Party participated in the first elections separately and later merged to form the Praja Socialist Party.

At the second election in 1957, the number of parties was reduced to 15, with four national parties still at war. However, in the next elections in 1962, 27 parties contested, bringing the number of national parties to six, with the Socialist Party (SOC) and the Swatantra Party (SWA) contesting.

After the first general election, the Congress party’s dominance lasted for a long time, winning 11 out of 14 elections until 2014, when the tide turned in favor of the BJP.

After the 1951 polls, the Communist Party of India emerged as the main opposition in the next two Lok Sabha elections. However, in 1964, a split occurred within the Soviet and Chinese Communist Party factions, resulting in the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Thereafter, the new CPI(M) continued to get more votes than the CPI in the national elections.

“The Socialist Party originated from the Congress Party, a left-wing faction within the Indian National Congress, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohiya and Acharya Narendra Dev, who broke away from the former soon after independence,” said party president Pradeep Gupta. Axis India told PTI.

“Although Narayan was popular for his role in India’s freedom struggle, the Samajwadi Party’s electoral results were unimpressive and therefore, after the elections, it merged with JB Kripalani’s Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP), formed the Praja Socialist Party (PSP),” he added.

Narayan also quit the Samajwadi Party at that time, Gupta explained, only returning to national politics in the mid-1970s when he led the movement against Indira Gandhi, whose government he claimed was corrupt and Not democratic. Narayan subsequently led calls for Gandhi’s disqualification before the Emergency was declared in 1975, for which he was arrested.

After his release from prison, Narayan and other Samajwadi Party leaders joined forces with several other groups to form the Bharatiya Lok Dal, which after the 1977 Emergency along with almost all of the country’s opposition formed the Bharatiya Lok Dal. Janata Party) in opposition to the Congress led by Gandhi. Several political parties, such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Party, can trace their lineage to the Janata Party.

The smallest number of parties contesting so far was in the 1992 Lok Sabha polls, with seven national parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, the CPM, the CPM, the Janata Party, the Janata Party and the Lok Sabha.

According to the ECI report, a total of 209 political parties participated in the 1996 general election, including 8 parties with national labels: National Congress (INC), All-Indira Congress (Tiwari), Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India, Malayalam Communist Party, People’s Party, People’s Party and Samatha Party.

In the 1998 polls, 176 political parties participated in the polls, including seven national parties – the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Party, the Janata Party, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of Malaya and the Samatha Party. In 1999, 160 political parties participated in the polls, including seven national parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, BSP, CPI, CPM, Janata Dal (Secular) and Janata Dal (United).

In 2014, 464 political parties participated in the election, 6 of which were national parties. These parties are-Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, CPI, CPI-Maoist, National Congress and Socialist Party of the Philippines.

The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) was promoted to a national party in 2016 and contested the 2019 polls with its newfound status.

In the 2019 elections, seven national parties participated in the polls: the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, the Socialist Party of the Philippines, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (M), the National Communist Party of India and the National Trade Council of India. A total of 674 political parties are competing.

However, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) all lost their national party status.

“As per the rules, to become a national party, a political group needs to win at least two per cent of the total Lok Sabha seats from at least three different states, or at least six per cent of the votes in four states and four states. Lok Sabha seats, or recognition as a political party in four states,” said former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi.

Last year, the Election Commission (EC) recognized the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a national party, giving it a major boost till 2024, while the TMC, NCP and CPI lost their national party status.

“The Election Commission’s decision is based on a review of the poll performance of various parties – the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 21 state assembly polls since 2014. Among other benefits, the status of national parties ensures The party’s symbol was reserved for its candidates across the country and land was obtained to set up offices in the national capital,” he said.

The country currently has six national political parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the CPI(M), the National People’s Party and the AAP.

Polling for the 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases, with the first phase for 102 seats starting on April 19. Counting of votes will take place on June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)