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Political Parties

In the Indian parliamentary system there are many political parties, some of them have their origin traced back to pre-independence era and some of them are formed more recently as an outcome of evolution of Indian Political system. There are different categories of the political parties which are based on their presence in different states and of course their performance in the state assembly and parliamentary elections. This whole process of accrediting of the status of the political parties is performed by the Election Commission of India based on a set of criteria. Details of these guidelines or criteria can be obtained from the Election Commission of India. At present broadly, there are following categories of the political parties in India:

1. National Parties

2. State Parties

3. Registered Parties (un-recognized)

National parties are the political parties which are recognized state parties in four or more states. Parties which are recognized as registered state parties in less than four states are categorized as state parties.

A candidate who wishes to contest in either of the parliamentary, state assembly or local elections does not have an affiliation with the above set of parties, he/she may contest the election as an independent candidate.

At present there are 7 political parties with the national party status. Indian National Congress (INC) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) are the biggest among them and are the main contenders for the power. However, in last few General Elections none of the political party could obtain a clear majority. That has led to a coalition politics, which are either pre or post-election alliances. At present, there are three main political alliances, namely:

1. United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

2. National Democratic Alliance (NDA)

3. Left Front