TMC may get national party status soon: Mukul

Trinamool Congress will get the status of national party very soon, its vice-president Mukul Roy on Thursday said. “Very soon the TMC will get the status of the national party. Recently an official of the Election commission had communicated it to me. Apart from West Bengal, Trinamool Congress has presence in states such as Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura,” he said.

The Election Commission has recently decided that for a political party to get the status of a national party it has to win two per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states in the latest general election.

A party will also get national status, if in a Lok Sabha or Assembly election it wins six per cent of the total valid votes in at least four states, in addition to winning four Lok Sabha seats. The status is also accorded if the party has been recognised as a state party in at least four states. At present, BJP, Indian National Congress, BSP, NCP, CPI and CPI(M) are the six recognised political parties. Besides, there are 64 recognised state parties in India. The Election Commission on Monday amended rules whereby it will now review the national and state party status of political parties every 10 years instead of the present five.