Electoral system of India

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The electoral system of India relates to regulation of elections to both chambers of the Parliament (the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha), the president and the vice president, and various chambers of state, union territory and local level legislatures. Multiple methods are used to elect members of different chambers and there are different constitutional bodies responsible for the conduct of elections.

Article 326 of the Constitution of India gives right to every citizen above the age of 18 years (amended from 21 years via the 61st constitutional amendment) unless ineligible due to being involved in crime or corrupt practice or being mentally unsound shall have the right to vote in Lok Sabha and state/UT legislative assemblies.[1]

Conduct of elections[edit | edit source]

Election Commission of India[edit | edit source]

Election Commission of India, a constitutional body independent from the government, has the right to conduct elections for the office of the president and the vice president and members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state legislative assemblies, state legislative councils and legislative assemblies of the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Puducherry.

State Election Commissions[edit | edit source]

Each state in India and three union territories (Chandigarh, Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir) have an autonomous constitutional body independent from ECI[2] responsible for conducting elections to urban local bodies such as municipal corporations and municipalities, and panchayat institutions such as village panchayats, block panchayats, and district councils within the respective state/UT. It is also responsible for the implementation of a model code of conduct during the election process, and updation of electoral rolls for all elections conducted by it.[3] State Election Commissions were created for implementation of Panchayati Raj system introduced by 73rd constitutional amendment.

Election Commission for UTs[edit | edit source]

For all Union Territories without a separate body for conduct of local elections, i.e. the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Election Commission for UTs acts as a singular body to conduct elections to autonomous hill councils, municipal corporations,municipalities, village panchayats, block panchayats, and district councils within all of these 4 Union Territories.

Voter registration[edit | edit source]

A person is eligible to register to vote by registering or after one of the qualifying dates (1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October) such that it is the last qualifying date before they turn 18, though their name will be added on the electoral roll on the next qualifying date if they are an ordinary resident of the constituency they wish to enroll in and is not legally barred from voting.[4]

Political parties[edit | edit source]

A person may contest election for any office or house either as an independent candidate or as member of a registered political party.

Out of the registered political parties, a party can be recognized as a state party or a national party by ECI which grants them additional benefits on appointing observers, star campaigners, access to ECI meetings, etc.

Criteria for recognition[edit | edit source]

National party status[edit | edit source]

A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfills any one of the three conditions listed below:[5]

  • If its candidates have secured at least 6% of total valid votes in at least four states (in latest Lok Sabha or Assembly elections) and the party has at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls.
  • If it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three states.
  • It is 'recognised' in four or more states.

State party status[edit | edit source]

A registered party is recognised as a state party only if it fulfils any one of the five conditions listed below:[5]

  • A party should secure at least six per cent of valid votes polled in an election to the state/UT legislative assembly and win at least two seats in that assembly.
  • A party should secure at least six per cent of valid votes polled in an election to Lok Sabha and win at least one seat in Lok Sabha.
  • A party should win at least three per cent of the total number of seats or any fraction thereof allotted to that state/UT.
  • At least one MP for every 25 members or any fraction allotted to the state/UT in the Lok Sabha.[6]
  • Under the liberalised criteria, one more clause that it will be eligible for recognition as state party if it secures eight per cent or more of the total valid votes polled in the state.

List of recognized political parties[edit | edit source]

National parties[edit | edit source]

Page Template:Sticky header/styles.css has no content.

Recognised national parties[7]
Party Abbr. Flag Election

symbol

Political

position

Ideology Founded Leader Government in states/UTs Number of seats
Chief

ministers

Ruling

coalition[lower-alpha 1]

Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha[lower-alpha 2] State

assemblies[lower-alpha 3]

State

councils

Aam Aadmi Party AAP Centre[8][9]
26 November 2012
(13 years ago) (2012-11-26) 		Arvind Kejriwal
1 / 31
0 / 31
3 / 543
3 / 245
121 / 4,123
0 / 426
Bahujan Samaj Party BSP Centre-left[18]
14 April 1984
(42 years ago) (1984-04-14) 		Mayawati
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
1 / 245
4 / 4,123
0 / 426
Bharatiya Janata Party BJP File:Lotos flower symbol.svg Right-wing[lower-alpha 4]

to far-right[lower-alpha 5]

6 April 1980
(46 years ago) (1980-04-06) 		Nitin Nabin
16 / 31
5 / 31
240 / 543
113 / 245
1,656 / 4,123
165 / 426
Communist Party of India CPI(M) Left-wing[lower-alpha 8] Marxism–Leninism[50][51][52]

Socialism[50][53][54][55] Secularism[51]

7 November 1964
(61 years ago) (1964-11-07) 		M. A. Baby
1 / 31
0 / 31
4 / 543
3 / 245
79 / 4,123
0 / 426
Indian National Congress INC Centre[59]
28 December 1885
(140 years ago) (1885-12-28) 		Mallikarjun Kharge
3 / 31
1 / 31
100 / 543
29 / 245
632 / 4,123
60 / 426
National People's Party NPP Centre-right[66]
6 January 2013
(13 years ago) (2013-01-06) 		Conrad Sangma
1 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
1 / 245
50 / 4,123
0 / 426

State parties[edit | edit source]

Recognised state parties[70][lower-alpha 9]
Party Flag Election

symbol

Founded Leader(s) Recognised in state(s)/UT(s) Government in states/UTs Seats
Chief minister Ruling coalition[lower-alpha 1] Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha State

assemblies

State

councils

State party in three states
All India Trinamool Congress 1998 Mamata Banerjee Meghalaya

Tripura West Bengal

1 / 31
0 / 31
29 / 543
13 / 245
230 / 4,123
0 / 426
Communist Party of India 1925 D. Raja Kerala

Manipur Tamil Nadu

0 / 31
1 / 31
2 / 543
2 / 245
22 / 4,123
1 / 426
Janata Dal 1999 H. D. Deve Gowda

H. D. Kumaraswamy

Arunachal Pradesh

Karnataka Kerala

0 / 31
0 / 31
2 / 543
1 / 245
18 / 4,123
8 / 426
Janata Dal 2003 Nitish Kumar Arunachal Pradesh

Bihar Manipur

1 / 31
0 / 31
12 / 543
4 / 245
87 / 4,123
26 / 426
State party in two states
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Two Leaves 1972 Edappadi K. Palaniswami Puducherry

Tamil Nadu

0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
4 / 245
61 / 4,123
0 / 426
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 1949 M. K. Stalin Puducherry

Tamil Nadu

1 / 31
0 / 31
22 / 543
10 / 245
137 / 4,123
0 / 426
Naga People's Front 1963 Neiphiu Rio Manipur

Nagaland

1 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
39 / 4,123
0 / 426
Nationalist Congress Party File:Indian Election Symbol Clock.png 1999 Sunetra Pawar Maharashtra

Nagaland

0 / 31
1 / 31
1 / 543
3 / 245
44 / 4,123
8 / 426
Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar 2024 Sharad Pawar Maharashtra

Nagaland

0 / 31
0 / 31
8 / 543
2 / 245
12 / 4,123
3 / 426
Rashtriya Janata Dal 1997 Lalu Prasad Yadav

Tejashwi Yadav

Bihar

Jharkhand

0 / 31
1 / 31
4 / 543
5 / 245
81 / 4,123
5 / 426
Telugu Desam Party 1982 N. Chandrababu Naidu Andhra Pradesh

Telangana

1 / 31
0 / 31
16 / 543
2 / 245
135 / 4,123
10 / 426
YSR Congress Party 2011 Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Andhra Pradesh

Telangana

0 / 31
0 / 31
4 / 543
7 / 245
11 / 4,123
35 / 426
State party in one state
All India Forward Bloc 1939 Debabrata Biswas West Bengal
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen kite 1927 Asaduddin Owaisi Telangana
0 / 31
0 / 31
1 / 543
0 / 245
10 / 4,123
2 / 426
All India N.R. Congress 2011 N. Rangaswamy Puducherry
1 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
10 / 4,123
0 / 426
All India United Democratic Front 2005 Badruddin Ajmal Assam
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
15 / 4,123
0 / 426
All Jharkhand Students Union 1986 Sudesh Mahto Jharkhand
0 / 31
0 / 31
1 / 543
0 / 245
1 / 4,123
0 / 426
Apna Dal 2016 Anupriya Patel Uttar Pradesh
0 / 31
1 / 31
2 / 543
0 / 245
12 / 4,123
1 / 426
Asom Gana Parishad 1985 Atul Bora Assam
0 / 31
1 / 31
0 / 543
1 / 245
9 / 4,123
0 / 426
Bharat Rashtra Samithi 2001 K. Chandrashekar Rao Telangana
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
4 / 245
39 / 4,123
19 / 426
Biju Janata Dal 1997 Naveen Patnaik Odisha
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
7 / 245
51 / 4,123
0 / 426
Bodoland People's Front 2005 Hagrama Mohilary Assam
0 / 31
1 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
3 / 4,123
0 / 426
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation 1974 Dipankar Bhattacharya Bihar
0 / 31
0 / 31
2 / 543
0 / 245
13 / 4,123
1 / 426
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam File:Flag DMDK.png 2005 Premallatha Vijayakant Tamil Nadu
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Goa Forward Party 2016 Vijai Sardesai Goa
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
1 / 4,123
0 / 426
Hill State People's Democratic Party 1968 KP Pangniang Meghalaya
0 / 31
1 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
2 / 4,123
0 / 426
Indian National Lok Dal 1996 Abhay Singh Chautala Haryana
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
2 / 4,123
0 / 426
Indian Union Muslim League 1948 Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal Kerala
0 / 31
0 / 31
3 / 543
2 / 245
15 / 4,123
0 / 426
Indigenous People's Front of Tripura 2009 Prem Kumar Reang Tripura
0 / 31
1 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
1 / 4,123
0 / 426
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference File:JKNC-flag.svg 1932 Farooq Abdullah

Omar Abdullah

Jammu and Kashmir
1 / 31
0 / 31
2 / 543
3 / 245
42 / 4,123
0 / 426
Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party 1982 Harsh Dev Singh Jammu and Kashmir
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party 1999 Mehbooba Mufti Jammu and Kashmir
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
3 / 4,123
0 / 426
Janasena Party 2014 Pawan Kalyan Andhra Pradesh
0 / 31
0 / 31
2 / 543
0 / 245
21 / 4,123
2 / 426
Jannayak Janta Party 2018 Dushyant Chautala Haryana
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Janta Congress Chhattisgarh 2016 Renu Jogi Chhattisgarh
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha 1972 Hemant Soren Jharkhand
1 / 31
0 / 31
3 / 543
2 / 245
34 / 4,123
0 / 426
Kerala Congress 1964 P. J. Joseph Kerala
0 / 31
0 / 31
1 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Kerala Congress 1979 Jose K. Mani Kerala
0 / 31
1 / 31
0 / 543
1 / 245
5 / 4,123
0 / 426
Lok Janshakti Party 2000 Bihar
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Lok Janshakti Party 2021 Chirag Paswan Nagaland
0 / 31
1 / 31
5 / 543
0 / 245
3 / 4,123
0 / 426
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena 2006 Raj Thackeray Maharashtra
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party 1963 Deepak Dhavalikar Goa
0 / 31
1 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
2 / 4,123
0 / 426
Naam Tamilar Katchi 1958 Seeman Tamil Nadu
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Mizo National Front 1961 Zoramthanga Mizoram
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
1 / 245
10 / 4,123
0 / 426
People's Party of Arunachal 1977 Kamen Ringu Arunachal Pradesh
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
1 / 4,123
0 / 426
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party 2018 Hanuman Beniwal Rajasthan
0 / 31
0 / 31
1 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Revolutionary Goans Party 2022 Viresh Borkar Goa
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
1 / 4,123
0 / 426
Revolutionary Socialist Party 1940 Manoj Bhattacharya Kerala
0 / 31
0 / 31
1 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Samajwadi Party 1992 Akhilesh Yadav Uttar Pradesh
0 / 31
0 / 31
37 / 543
4 / 245
112 / 4,123
9 / 426
Shiromani Akali Dal 1920 Sukhbir Singh Badal Punjab
0 / 31
0 / 31
1 / 543
0 / 245
3 / 4,123
0 / 426
Sikkim Democratic Front 1993 Pawan Kumar Chamling Sikkim
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Sikkim Krantikari Morcha 2013 Prem Singh Tamang Sikkim
1 / 31
0 / 31
1 / 543
0 / 245
32 / 4,123
0 / 426
Shiv Sena 2022 Eknath Shinde Maharashtra
0 / 31
1 / 31
7 / 543
1 / 245
59 / 4,123
8 / 426
Shiv Sena 2022 Uddhav Thackeray Maharashtra
0 / 31
0 / 31
9 / 543
2 / 245
20 / 4,123
6 / 426
Tipra Motha Party 2019 Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma Tripura
0 / 31
1 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
13 / 4,123
0 / 426
United Democratic Party 1997 Metbah Lyngdoh Meghalaya
0 / 31
1 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
11 / 4,123
0 / 426
United People's Party Liberal Error creating thumbnail: File with dimensions greater than 12.5 MP 2015 Urkhao Gwra Brahma Assam
0 / 31
1 / 31
1 / 543
1 / 245
7 / 4,123
0 / 426
Voice of the People Party 2021 Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit Meghalaya
0 / 31
0 / 31
1 / 543
0 / 245
4 / 4,123
0 / 426
Zoram Nationalist Party 1997 H. Lalrinmawia Mizoram
0 / 31
0 / 31
0 / 543
0 / 245
0 / 4,123
0 / 426
Zoram People's Movement 2017 Lalduhoma Mizoram
1 / 31
0 / 31
1 / 543
0 / 245
27 / 4,123
0 / 426

Date of Elections[edit | edit source]

Though states make law for local elections, ECI is responsible for choosing date of election for all elections within its domain as long as the date of election is within the limitations set by the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Presidential And Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952

House/Office Cause of Vacancy
End of Term of House/Member Casual Vacancy (Death/Resignation/Ineligibility/Suspension)
President Before the end of term (Notification of election must be issued no earlier than 60 days of end of term)[71] Within 6 months of end of term
Vice President No time limit (As soon as possible)
Lok Sabha Between the day 6 months before end of term and the day before end of term No later than 6 months (or later if ECI with government consultation find it difficult)[72]

[No bye-election takes place if office is vacated less than a year before end of term.

State/UT legislative assembly
Rajya Sabha Before the end of term (Notification of election must be issued no earlier than 3 months of end of term)
State legislative council

Term of Member/House/Office[edit | edit source]

The table below states maximum term of the office or house or its member.

House/Office General/Maximum Term Nature of office/house
President 5 years Dissolvable
Vice President 5 years
Lok Sabha 5 years
State/UT legislative 5 years
Rajya Sabha 6 years (membership) Permanent/Undisolvable
State Legislative Council 6 years (membership) Dissolvable by a state's respective legislative assembly

Eligibility to vote[edit | edit source]

Lok Sabha, state/UT legislative assembly and municipal/panchayat elections[edit | edit source]

Elected members[edit | edit source]

Every person in the electoral roll revised by ECI (or state election commission of their respective state of residence for municipal/panchayat elections) before election is eligible to cast one vote in their respective constituency.

Exception: In Sangha assembly constituency in Sikkim Legislative Assembly, only the members of sangha community can contest and vote.

Nominated members[edit | edit source]

Two legislative assemblies (Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry) have nominated members. Government of India is allowed to nominate at-most three members to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. In Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, LG can nominate up to two members from Kashmiri migrant families (at least one woman), up to one displaced person from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and up to two additional women if deemed underrepresented.

Rajya Sabha elections[edit | edit source]

Elected members[edit | edit source]

Every elected member of a state/UT legislative assembly can vote in Rajya Sabha elections in the state of their respective membership. Nominated members are barred from voting in Rajya Sabha elections.

Nominated members[edit | edit source]

President of India may nominate up to 12 individuals with special expertise in literature, science, art, or social service to Rajya Sabha, as per Article 80 of the Constitution of India.

Presidential elections[edit | edit source]

An electoral collage with unequal amount of votes is used for presidential elections. All elected members of Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies and legislative assemblies of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir are allowed to vote.

Vice Presidential elections[edit | edit source]

All members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are allowed to vote for Vice Presidential elections. This also includes nominated members of Rajya Sabha.

Eligibility to contest elections[edit | edit source]

Except constituencies reserved for women, for Scheduled Castes or for Scheduled Tribes, where members of the particular community can contest, the following are the only conditions to contest in an election. For constituencies reserved for a particular community, the following conditions are mandatory in addition to being from teh respective community.

Exception: In Sangha assembly constituency in Sikkim Legislative Assembly, only the eligible members of sangha community can contest and vote.

Office/House Minimum age Minimum number of nominations required Nominators Electoral roll requirement Common requirements
President 35 years 50 electors + 50 distinct seconders Members of the electoral collage A registered voter in any parliamentary constituency in India
  • A citizen of India
  • Shall not hold an office of profit
  • Mentally sound
  • Must not be bankrupt
  • Must have taken (or to take) oath or affirmation to uphold constitution of India prescribed by a person appointed by ECI
  • Either never convicted for a crime, or convicted but not jailed for 2 years (or more), or convicted and imprisoned but released 6 years before filing nomination.
Vice President 20 proposers + 20 distinct seconders Members of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha
Lok Sabha 25 years 1 (if set up by national/state party)

10 (otherwise)

Voters from the respective parliamentary constituency
Rajya Sabha 30 years 10% of legislative assembly membership or 10, whichever is less Members of the state/UT legislative assembly
State/UT legislative assembly 25 years 1 (if set up by national/state party)

10 (otherwise)

Voters from the respective assembly constituency A registered voter in any assembly constituency in the respective state
State legislative council 30 years 10 electors Elector in the respective elector group (Teacher/Graduate/Local Authority/MLA) Elector in the respective elector group (for non MLA seats)

Voter in any assembly constituency in the respective state

System of voting[edit | edit source]

Lok Sabha and state/UT legislative assembly[edit | edit source]

All elections for members of Lok Sabha and state or union territory legislative assemblies are conducted using first past the post system. Voters are given a list of candidates in the electronic voting machine with candidates arranged in such a way that candidates set up by national party appear in alphabetical order above those set up by state parties in alphabetical order, which appear above those by registered unrecognised parties in alphabetical order above all independent candidates in alphabetical order, all followed by None of the above option. Name of candidates appears in machine in Hindi, English and local languages (if any) along with their coloured photograph and a symbol chosen by (or reserved for) their respective political party (for candidates set up by a party) or a symbol preferred by the candidate out of the options given to them.

Except for polling booths with single voters, votes are generally anonymous.

Postal ballot option is available for public workers or those working for the Indian government if it is not possible for them to vote. ECI may use postal ballot for home voting of deemed necessary.

As in first past the post, the person with most votes win and a draw of lots is used in case of tie. Irrespective of the numebr of votes cast to NOTA, NOTA cannot be declared winner and the person with most votes win

Rajya Sabha elections[edit | edit source]

By means of single transferable vote through proportional representation, elections for members of Rajya Sabha is held in state/UT legislative assemblies for staggered terms lasting six years each. Members of state legislative assembly must show their ballot to an official set up by their respective political parties if required by a political party. Votes cast by a person are anonymous to all others except the party official. The none of the above option is not available in these polls and paper ballot is used.

Municipal and Panchayat elections[edit | edit source]

Though there is no legal requirement to conducted local elections using first past the post system, all states and union territories at all local levels use the first past the post system with almost no change from nationally used method except the NOTA system. In Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi, if NOTA wins more votes than any other candidate, no candidate is declared winner and elections on every such constituency are held again. Use of EVM or paper ballot is decided by the laws of the state, though all states except Karnataka (which uses ballot papers) use EVMs.

State Legislative Council elections[edit | edit source]

Only six out of 28 states in India have bicameral legislature. Upper house of those state is a state legislative council. One third of the members are elected by members of local authorities, one third by MLAs, one twelfth by teachers who had spent at least three years in teaching in educational institutions within the state not lower than Secondary schools, one twelfth by graduates of three years' standing residing in that state. No elections are contested for the remaining one sigxth seats as they are nominated by the governor from persons having knowledge or practical experience in fields such as literature, science, arts, the co-operative movement and social services. Elections to these seats are conducted the same way as Rajya Sabha elections except that only MLA's constituencies can have an official set up by their respective political parties to view ballot of the voters from the respective parties.

Presidential elections[edit | edit source]

Presidential elections are conducted though a complex method where combined value of vote of a state is decided in proportion to its population and a single vote is cast for entire value though a ranked choice voting system in an anonymous ballot. The electoral collage consists of all elected members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state/UT legislative assemblies. Population of a state/UT for its value of vote is used as per 1971 census. The votes are completely anonymous and are generally cast in central house of Parliament by MPs and the state/UT legislative assemblies by the respective MLAs. No political party can issue a whip to direct any of its MPs or MLAs on ranking any candidate.

Value of an MLA vote=⌊Total population of the state or union territoryTotal number of elected members of the State Legislative Assembly×1000⌉Value of an MP vote=⌊The sum of vote value of elected members of all the State Legislative AssembliesThe sum of elected members of both the houses of Parliament⌉

Vice Presidential elections[edit | edit source]

Vice presidential elections follow a ranked choice voting system in an anonymous ballot just like in Presidential elections but unlike presidential elections, value of vote of all electors is equal. Voting and counting of votes is held in the parliament itself and no political party can issue a whip to direct any of its MPs or MLAs on ranking any candidate.

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Indicates only if the party is part of the cabinet of the incumbent state/UT government.
  2. ↑ Includes 12 members nominated by the president of India.
  3. ↑ Excluding five nominated members in Jammu and Kashmir and three nominated members in Puducherry
  4. ↑ Attributed to multiple sources[20][21][22][23][24][25]
  5. ↑ Attributed to multiple sources[26][27][28][29]
  6. ↑ Attributed to multiple sources[30][31][32][33]
  7. ↑ Attributed to multiple sources[34][35][36][37]
  8. ↑ Attributed to multiple sources[43][44][45][46][47][48][49]
  9. ↑ There were 60 state parties listed in publication issued by the Election Commission of India on 23 March 2024. However, two out of 60 parties (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and People's Democratic Front) have merged with other parties. Additionally, the name and symbol of Lok Janshakti Party and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party have been frozen due to dispute. In January 2025, Janasena Party was recognised as a state party. Naam Tamilar Katchi was recognised as a state party in May 2025.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "Article 326: Elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assemblies of States to be on the basis of adult suffrage". Constitution of India. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  2. ↑ "State election panels: Independent of central EC, with similar powers". The Indian Express. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  3. ↑ SNS (23 November 2021). "Election Commission directs all state electoral officers to immediately redress all pending voter applications". The Statesman. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  4. ↑ "How to Register to Vote". Election Commission of India.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  6. ↑ admin1 (11 April 2023). "Recognition of National or State Party - Current Affairs". Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "List of national parties". Election Commission of India.
  8. ↑ Lakshmi, Rama (3 February 2020). "No soft Hindutva, no Left Revolution, Kejriwal establishing a new centre in Indian politics". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  9. ↑ Ali, Asmin (29 March 2022). "The rise of AAP and a central question". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  10. ↑ "Understanding the Social Content of the Aam Aadmi Party". Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "India ko no 1 banana hai'-how Kejriwal & AAP are playing the nationalism game this year". ThePrint. 14 August 2022. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
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  54. ↑ "Party Programme". Communist Party of India (Marxist). The establishment of a people's democratic government, the successful carrying out of these tasks and the leadership of the working class in the people's democratic State will ensure that the Indian revolution will not stop at the democratic stage but will pass over to the stage of effecting socialist transformation by developing the productive forces.
  55. ↑ "CPI(M) deliberates on native socialism model". The Hindu. 7 April 2012.
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  58. ↑ Jean-Pierre Cabestan, Jacques deLisle, ed. (2013). Inside India Today (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-04823-5. ... were either guarded in their criticism of the ruling party – the centrist Indian National Congress – or attacked it almost invariably from a rightist position. This was so for political and commercial reasons, which are explained, ...
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  66. ↑ "NPP President Likha calls party 'secular'". 9 July 2023.
  67. ↑ "Don't forget your roots & identity, Conrad tells youth | Highland Post". 25 November 2023.
  68. ↑ Singh, Bikash (8 June 2019). "National People's Party to further strengthen party base in the region". The Economic Times.
  69. ↑ Parashar, Utpal (4 May 2018). "Beyond BJP's rise, NPP emerges as biggest regional outfit in Northeast". Hindustan Times.
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  72. ↑ "Section 151A, The Constitution of India". India Code.
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