National Political Parties

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• Introduction
• National Parties
• State Parties

Political parties which participate in different elections all over India and are recognized in four or more states are considered as a National Party. Few of the popular National Parties in the Country are:



1.    Bahujan Samaj Party

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was formed to chiefly represent Bahujan samaj which comprises of   Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), the Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Religious Minorities such as Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Buddhists and account for over 85 per cent of the country's total population. The BSP was founded by the high-profile charismatic leader Kanshi Ram in 1984 and is inspired by the philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar. The party's political symbol is an Elephant. Current president of the party is Mayawati and main base of the party is at Uttar Pradesh.

For more details: http://bspindia.org/

2.    Bhartiya Janta Party

Originally, Jana Sangh political party was founded in 1951 by Syama Prasad Mookerjee but later in 1980 party was renamed as Bhartiya Janata Party in 1980. The party remained as one of the major opposition parties, throughout the Congress regime. The party commits itself to 'Sarva Dharma Sambhav' and value based politics. The Party stands for decentralization of economic and political power. The party's political symbol is Lotus flower. Current President of the party is Shri Rajnath Singh and main base of the party is at Uttar Pradesh.

For more details: http://www.bjp.org/

3.    Communist Party of India

The Communist Party of India was founded on December 26, 1925, but began functioning legally from July 1942. The party relies mainly on mass organizations for its activities, fronts and movements, guided by it along with other parties. On national level, CPI supports the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The party is part of the coalition of leftist and communist parties, also known as the Left-Front in national media. The party's political symbol is corn- sickle. Current President of the party is Shri A.B. Bardhan and main base of the party is at New Delhi.

     For more details:  http://www.cpindia.org/

4.    Communist Party of India (Marxist)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI (M), was founded in 1964 by the split from the Communist Party of India. The party’s main objective is to implement reservations for the disabled in public sector employment, poverty alleviation programs and education for the disabled. The party's political symbol is hammer sickle and star. Current general secretary of CPI (M) is Prakash Karat and main base of the party is at New Delhi. Shri Sitaram Yechury is head of the International Department and Editor of CPI (M) central weekly Peoples’ Democracy.

 For more details: http://www.cpiml.in/

5.    Indian National Congress

The oldest and most popular Indian political party, the Indian National Congress was formed in 1885 and played the major role in the struggle for Indian independence. This is the only party of country having credit of running govt. for most of the years after independence. Currently the party is the chief member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition. It is the only party to get maximum number of votes about 100 million votes in the past three general elections (1999, 2004, and 2009). The party's political symbol is hand. Current President of the party is Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and main base of the party is at New Delhi.

For more details: http://www.aicc.org.in/new/

6.    Nationalist Congress Party

Nationalist leaders Shri Sharad Pawar, Shri P. A. Sangma and Shri Tariq Anwar with hundreds of their political supporters formed the nationalist congress party on 25 May 1999, after being expelled from the Indian National Congress (INC) on May 20, 1999. All founders of NCP protested against the leadership of Italian-born Sonia Gandhi over the INC party. The party's political symbol is clock. Current leader of NCP is Shri. Sharad Pawar and main base of the party is at Maharashtra with head quarters at New Delhi.

For more details: http://www.ncp.org.in/

7.    Rashtriya Janata Dal

Rashtriya Janata Dal or National Peoples Party is one of the main political parties in India. RJD was founded by Laloo Prasad Yadav in 1997 with its base at Bihar. Major portion of Bihar’s population, Yadavs and Muslims form the mass base of the party. These people are the politically hyperactive segments of the Bihar’s population. In 2008, the RJD was accorded with the status of a recognized national level party after its performance in the previous general elections.The party's political symbol is hurricane lamp. Current leader of RJD is Shri. Laloo Prasad Yadav and has head quarters at New Delhi.