Biggest Political News of the Year: AAP achieves 'national party’staus

The Aam AadmiParty (AAP) qualified to become India’s ninth national party, within a decade ofits formation, with its performance in the Gujarat elections. The Election Commission of India gives “national” and “state” tags to parties, which entitles them to use their symbol across India or the respective state.The others are the Congress, BJP, Mayawati's BSP, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPI (Marxist), Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, and Meghalaya-centred National People's Party. 

To earn a national party status, a political party needs to be recognized in at least four states, and to be recognised as a state party, it needs to win at least two seats and 6 per cent of votes polled in the Assembly election. In 2021 AAP had put up a good show after replacing Congress as the second-biggest party in Surat municipal polls by securing about 28% vote share.This would also mean AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will now have more ammunition to stake claim for a better seat on the Opposition high table. This would also mean AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will now have more ammunition to stake claim for a better seat on the Opposition high table. An elated Kejriwal said in a video posted on his Twitter handle, “we have become a national party. Gujarat people have made us a national party. Very few parties get the status of national party…We have breached the BJP bastion of Gujarat this time and we will surely win next time.”