TMC to defend its ‘national party’ status
Says, it secured 15% of total votes in Meghalaya Assembly polls
With the Election Commission of India (ECI) raising a question over the ‘national party’ status of All India Trinamool Congress, the party has defended its status highlighting that it secured 15 per cent of the total votes in the recent Meghalaya Assembly elections, a state where it had no presence earlier.
Addressing the question as to what the will be Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) move in the wake of a letter sent to it by the ECI questioning its national party status, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the EC can send as many letters as it wants while the party will reply to its queries.
He said the reply will be decided by the party. “It is a normal process where there will be an exchange of replies and discussions over the matter,” he said.
Ghosh highlighted that TMC secured 15 per cent of the total votes in the Meghalaya Assembly polls. This, he said was achieved when TMC had no prior presence in that state. “It is in its first attempt that the party managed to get five MLAs and finished second in at least 10 to 15 seats. It secured 15 per cent of the total votes,”
Kunal said.
Sources said that the EC held a hearing on Tuesday for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the TMC in a bid to decide whether these parties should be allowed to continue to retain their national status.
In 2019, the ECI issued show cause notices to all three parties asking why their national party status should not be revoked after their performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
According to the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, a political party shall be eligible to be recognised as a national party, if, and only if, any of the following conditions is fulfilled — firstly, the candidates set up by the party, in any four or more States, at the last general election to the House of the People, or to the Legislative Assembly of the State concerned, have secured not less than six per cent of the total valid votes polled in each of those States at that general election; and, in addition, it has returned at least four members to the House of the People at the aforesaid last general election from any State or States.
Secondly, at the last general election to the House of the People, the party won at least two per cent of the total number of seats in the House of the People, any fraction exceeding half being counted as one, and the party’s candidates have been elected to that House from not less than three States; or thirdly, the party is recognised as State party in at least four States.
