{"id":86978,"date":"2026-02-09T18:04:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T12:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=86978"},"modified":"2026-02-09T18:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T12:34:33","slug":"difference-between-national-party-and-state-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/difference-between-national-party-and-state-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Difference Between National Party and State Party"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Election Commission of India (ECI) grants recognition to national-level and state-level political parties<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> based on objective criteria. The recognition of national and state parties is done by the Election Commission of India under the <\/span><b>Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which was issued in exercise of its powers under <\/span><b>Article 324<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the Constitution and the <\/span><b>Representation of the People Act, 1951.\u00a0 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Difference between National and State Party are discussed in detail in the article.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>National Party Criteria<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/national-party-in-india\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>National parties<\/strong><\/a> have a pan-India presence and exclusive symbols nationwide, while state parties operate within specific states, focusing on regional issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Currently six parties enjoy the status of National Party<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/foundation-of-indian-national-congress\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Indian National Congress<\/strong><\/a> (INC), Communist Party of India (Marxist) &#8211; CPI(M), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), National People\u2019s Party (NPP). <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfills any one of the three conditions listed below:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If its candidates polled at least 6% of total valid votes in any four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and had at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls; or\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/lok-sabha\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Lok Sabha<\/strong><\/a> from not less than three states; or\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If it is &#8216;recognised&#8217; in four or more states.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>State Party Criteria\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>A registered party is recognised as a state party only if it fulfils any one of the five conditions listed below:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At least 6% vote-share in the last Assembly election and have at least 2 MLAs; or have 6% vote-share in the last Lok Sabha elections from that state and at least one MP from that state; or<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At least 3% of the total number of seats or three seats, whichever is more, in the last Assembly elections; or<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At least one MP for every 25 members or any fraction allotted to the state in the Lok Sabha; or<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have at least 8% of the total valid votes in the last Assembly election or Lok Sabha election from the state.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Major examples of State Parties are<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: All India Trinamool Congress (West Bengal), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam &#8211; DMK (Tamil Nadu), Samajwadi Party &#8211; SP (Uttar Pradesh), Rashtriya Janata Dal &#8211; RJD (Bihar), Janata Dal (United)\u00a0 &#8211; JD(U) (Bihar), Telugu Desam Party &#8211; TDP (Andhra Pradesh) etc\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Difference between National and State Party<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Difference between National and State Party is discussed below:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"tb-color\" style=\"text-align: center; width: 99.2986%;\" colspan=\"2\"><b>Difference Between National and State Party<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; width: 48.0962%;\"><b>Nation Party<\/b><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; width: 51.2024%;\"><b>State Party<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 48.0962%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognised across India\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 51.2024%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognised in one particular state\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 48.0962%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Must fulfill prescribed criteria in multiple states\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 51.2024%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Must fulfill prescribed criteria within a single state\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 48.0962%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have pan-India presence and influence\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 51.2024%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have regional or state specific influence\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 48.0962%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get a permanent reserved symbol valid throughout India\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 51.2024%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gets a reserved symbol symbol only within the concerned state\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 48.0962%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generally has a national ideology and agenda\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 51.2024%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Focuses on regional issues, state interests, and local identity<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 48.0962%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples &#8211; Indian National Congress (INC), Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) etc\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 51.2024%;\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples &#8211; Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra etc\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><b>Advantages of Being Recognised as a National or State Party<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Exclusive Election Symbol:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a party is recognised as a State Party\u2019, it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it in the State in which it is so recognised, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a party is recognised as a `National Party\u2019 it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it throughout India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Simpler Nomination Process:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognised `State\u2019 and `National\u2019 parties need only one proposer for filing the nomination.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Free Electoral Rolls:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Recognised `State\u2019 and `National\u2019 parties are entitled for two sets of electoral rolls free of cost at the time of revision of rolls and their candidates get one copy of electoral roll free of cost during General Elections.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Free Airtime:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Recognised `State\u2019 and `National\u2019 parties get broadcast\/telecast facilities over Akashvani\/Doordarshan during general elections.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Star Campaigner Facility:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Political parties are entitled to nominate \u201cStar Campaigners\u201d during General Elections.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A recognized National or State party can have a maximum of 40 \u201cStar campaigners\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A registered un-recognised party can nominate a maximum of 20 \u2018Star Campaigners\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The travel expenses of star campaigners are not to be accounted for in the election expense accounts of candidates of their party.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Is Registration Necessary to Contest Elections?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any Indian citizen who is more than 25 years old and is registered as a voter can contest elections even without forming a party. Similarly, <\/span><b>associations can also contest elections without getting registered by the Election Commission<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. They, <\/span><b>however, will not be identified as political parties and hence will not be eligible for availing of benefits under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RPA).<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Benefits of Registration\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are many benefits of registering a party:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Firstly, the RPA allows political parties to accept contributions voluntarily offered to it by any person or company other than a government company.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apart from this, candidates of registered parties get preference in allotment of election symbols. Other Candidates are identified as independents and do not get preference in symbol allocation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Know the difference between National and State Parties in India, ECI recognition criteria, symbols, benefits, examples, and eligibility under election laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":87000,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[5280,5107,5108],"class_list":{"0":"post-86978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-studies","8":"tag-difference-between-national-party-and-state-party","9":"tag-indian-polity","10":"tag-indian-polity-notes","11":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86978"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86998,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86978\/revisions\/86998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}