The Election Commission on Thursday sent show-cause notices to the Communist Party of India, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Trinamool Congress, asking each to say why it should not lose its national party status following its showing in the Lok Sabha elections, sources said.

Deadline and background

The three parties have until August 5 to reply. The CPI, the BSP and the NCP also faced the possibility of losing national recognition after weak results in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but were spared when the Commission changed its rules in 2016 so that national and state party status is reviewed every 10 years instead of every five. The BSP, which won 10 Lok Sabha seats and some assembly seats this time, is not at risk of losing its status for now.

The criteria

The rules are set out in the 1968 order on the reservation and allotment of election symbols. One route to national recognition requires a party’s candidates to secure six per cent or more of the vote in a minimum of four states, in either Lok Sabha or assembly polls, together with at least four Lok Sabha MPs. The order also refers to a party holding at least two per cent of all Lok Sabha seats, with its members elected from no fewer than three states.

At present the parties with national status are the BJP, the Congress, the BSP, the CPI, the CPI(M), the NCP, the TMC and the National People’s Party of Meghalaya.

See also: Nationalist Congress Party | Communist Party of India | Political parties

Originally published on 19 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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