The contribution reports of only 78 (3.39%) of the total 2,301 registered unrecognized political parties are available in the public domain for 2018-19 reports the Association For Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Classification of Political Parties in India

(A) National parties

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

• A party should win 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states.
• At a general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in any four or more states and in addition, it wins four Lok Sabha seats.
• A party gets recognition as a state party in four states.
• A party recognised as a National party can be derecognized if it fails to maintain the criteria.

(B) State parties

A party has to fulfil any of the following conditions for recognition as a state party:

• A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to the state legislative assembly and win at least 2 seats in that state assembly.
• A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to Lok Sabha and win at least 1 seat in Lok Sabha.
• A party should win a minimum of three per cent of the total number of seats or a minimum of three seats in the Legislative Assembly, whichever is higher.
• A party should win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or any fraction thereof allotted to that State.
• Under the liberalized criteria, one more clause that it will be eligible for recognition as state party if it secures 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the state.

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