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List Of All Political Parties In India With

Their Founder Presidents - Check Here!

India is the largest democracy in the world and therefore its political system is made of

multitude of factions and political parties. So let's take a look at the chronology,

relevance and importance of the many political parties that India saw arise and fall.

Here is the list of Political Parties in India along with their history and prominent

leaders to boost your preparation of General Awareness section for various banking,

SSC, Railway & Government Exams.

But before we start with the Political System of India, you should know a few terms

associated with politics.

Formation Of Political Parties in India

• A political party is a group of people, with similar political aim , coming together

to contest election.

• All parties that desire to contest elections in India have to register themselves

with the Election Commission of India or ECI.

• Generally, in a political party, you will find that all party members have a

common goal. Such goals are listed down in a political manifesto.

List of Political Parties in India

Of the many Indian parties, some were those that rooted from the Independence

Struggle, some others were born to revolutionize the new age India and free it from the

shackles of Corruption. At the same time, some of the currently more powerful and

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politically strong parties raised when the country was going through a state of

emergency!

In India, there are mainly 3 types of political parties –

1. National Parties

2. State Recognized Parties

3. Unrecognized Parties

Types of Political Parties in India - National Parties

What is a National Political Party?

A party registered with Election Commission of India is declared a National Party on the

following conditions:

• If it wins 2% of the Lok Sabha seats from at least 3 different states

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• If it is recognized as a state party in at least 4 states.

• If it receives 6% of votes polled in previous Parliamentary or Legislative Assembly

Election in addition to 4 seats in Lok Sabha.

There are 7 National Parties in India. Have a look a the list of these parties along with

their year of foundation.

S.No. Name of Party Abbreviation Foundation

Year

Party Logo

1. Bharatiya Janata Party BJP 1980

2. Indian National Congress INC 1885

3. Communist Party of India

(Marxist)

CPI-M 1964

4. Communist Party of India CPI 1925

5. Bahujan Samaj Party BSP 1984

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6. Nationalist Congress Party NCP 1999

7. All India Trinamool

Congress

AITC 1998

Given below is the list of the National Political Parties and their leaders.

National Party Founder Info

Indian National

Congress - INC

A.O. Hume

First President – WC

Banerjee

It is the first all India Political

Party of pre-independence India

Alliance of other supportive Party

– United Progressive Alliance

Bhartiya Janta

Party-BJP

Originated from Bhartiya

Jan Sangh founded by

Shyama Prasad

Mukherjee.

Officially created in 1980 and

contested in 1984 Lok Sabha

Election First President 1984- L K

Advani

Bahujan Samaj

Party-BSP

Kanshi Ram in 1984 Formed to represent Bahujans

(Majority)- at that time

SC/ST/OBC/religious minorities

formed 85% of the population

Communist Party

of India (Marxist)

CPI(M)

P. Sundarayya and E.M.S.

Namboodiripad and others

in 1964

It formed from CPI (undivided

India).

CPI(M) represents the Left wing of

Indian Politics.

The Party has various other wing-

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Youth Wing, Peasant Wing,

Women’s Wing, Tribal Wing

Nationalist

Congress

Party(NCP)

Sharad Pawar, P. A.

Sangma, and Tariq Anwar

in 1999

It represents previous leaders of

INC and was a part of United

Progressive Alliance.

It has it’s voter base in

Maharashtra and Meghalaya

All India Trinamool

Congress(AITC/

TMC)

Mamta Banerjee in 1998 Formed after a split from INC.

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Types of Political Parties in India - State

Recognized Parties

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What is a State Political Party?

To be called as a State Political Party, a political party needs to fulfill any of the following

conditions

• The political party needs to win a minimum of 3% of the total number of seats in

the legislative assembly

• For every 25 seats in the Lok Sabha, the political party must win at least one seat.

Alternatively, it needs to win any fraction there of allotted to that State.

• The political party should win at least 6% of the total valid votes that are polled

during the general election towards the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assembly.

And, in addition, it should win at least one Lok Sabha seat and two Legislative

Assembly seats in that particular election.

• As per the liberalized criteria, if a political party fails to win a seat in the State

general elections to the Legislative Assembly of the State or the Lok Sabha, then,

it needs to secure 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the State.

There are 49 State Recognized Parties in India. Here is a list of all those political

parties.

S.No. Name Related Info Political

Leader &

Foundation

Year

States/UT

1. Aam Aadmi Party

(AAP)

Originated

from India

Against

Corruption

movement lead

Arvind Kejriwal

in 2012

Delhi, Punjab

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by Anna

Hazare and

Team Anna.

2. All India Anna

Dravida Munnetra

Kazhagam

- M.G.

Ramchandran

(MGR) in 1972

Puducherry, Tamil

Nadu

3. All India Forward

Bloc (AIFB)

Formed after

differences

with INC

Subash

Chandra Bose

in 1939

West Bengal

4. All India Majlis-e-

Ittehadul

Muslimeen

(AIMIM)

- 1927 Telangana

5. All India N.R.

Congress (AINRC)

- 2011 Puducherry

6. All India United

Democratic Front

(AIUDF)

- 2004 Assam

7. All Jharkhand

Students Union

(AJSU)

- 1986 Jharkhand

8. Asom Gana

Parishad (AGP)

- 1985 Assam

9. Biju Janata Dal

(BJD)

- 1997 Odisha

10. Bodoland People's

Front (BPF)

- 1985 Assam

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11. Desiya Murpokku

Dravidar

Kazhagam

(DMDK)

- 2005 Tamil Nadu

12. Dravida Munnetra

Kazhagam (DMK)

- C.N. Annadurai

in 1949

Puducherry, Tamil

Nadu

13. Haryana Janhit

Congress

(HJC(BL))

- 2007 Haryana

14. Hill State People's

Democratic Party

(HSPDP)

- 1968 Meghalaya

15. Indian National

Lok Dal (INLD)

- Chaudhary Devi

Lal in 1999

Haryana

16. Indian Union

Muslim League

(IUML)

- 1948 Kerala

17. Jammu & Kashmir

National

Conference

(JKNC)

- 1932 Jammu & Kashmir

18. Jammu & Kashmir

National Panthers

Party (JKNPP)

- 1982 Jammu & Kashmir

19. Jammu and

Kashmir People's

- 1998 Jammu & Kashmir

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Democratic Party

(JKPDP)

20. Janata Dal

(Secular) (JD (S))

- 1999 Karnataka, Kerala

21. Janata Dal

(United) (JD (U))

- Nitish Kumar in

1999

Bihar

22. Jharkhand Mukti

Morcha (JMM )

- Jharkhand

23. Jharkhand Vikas

Morcha

(Prajatantrik)

(JVM(P))

- 2006 Jharkhand

24. Kerala Congress

(M) (KC(M))

- 1979 Kerala

25. Lok Janshakti

Party (LJP)

- 2000 Bihar

26. Maharashtra

Navnirman Sena

(MNS)

- 2006 Maharashtra

27. Maharashtrawadi

Gomantak Party

(MGP)

- 1963 Goa

28. Manipur State

Congress Party

(MSCP)

- 1997 Manipur

29. Mizo National

Front (MNF)

- 1959 Mizoram

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30. Mizoram People's

Conference (MPC)

- 1972 Mizoram

31. Naga People's

Front (NPF)

- 2002 Manipur, Nagaland

32. National People's

Party (NPP)

- 2013 Meghalaya

33. Pattali Makkal

Katchi (PMK)

- 1989 Puducherry, Tamil

Nadu

34. People's Party of

Arunachal (PPA)

- 1987 Arunachal Pradesh

35. Rashtriya Janata

Dal (RJD)

- Lalu Prasad

Yadav in 1997

Bihar, Jharkhand

36. Rashtriya Lok Dal

(RLD)

- 1996 Uttar Pradesh

37. Rashtriya Lok

Samta Party

(RLSP)

- 2013 Bihar

38. Revolutionary

Socialist Party

(RSP)

- 1940 Kerala, West

Bengal

39. Samajwadi Party

(SP)

- Mulayam Singh

Yadav in 1992

Uttar Pradesh

40. Shiromani Akali

Dal (SAD)

It was an

offshoot of

various local

movements of

Non-

A task force of

the Shiromani

Gurudwara

Prabandhak in

1920

Punjab

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Cooperation

Movement in

1920

41. Shiv Sena (SS) Supports pro-

Maratha

ideology

Bal Thackrey in

1966

Maharashtra

42. Sikkim Democratic

Front (SDF)

Chamling is the

longest

continuous

serving

CM(Sikkim) of

India

Pawan Kumar

Chamling in

1993

Sikkim

43. Sikkim Krantikari

Morcha (SKM)

- 2013 Sikkim

44. Telangana Rashtra

Samithi (TRS)

- 2001 Telangana

45. Telugu Desam

Party (TDP)

- 1982 Andhra

Pradesh, Telangana

46. United Democratic

Party (UDP)

- E.K. Mawlong

in 1972

Meghalaya

47. YSR Congress

Party (YSRCP)

- 2011 Andhra

Pradesh, Telangana

48. Samajwadi Janata

Party (Rashtriya)

(SJP)

- 1990 Uttar Pradesh

49 All India Public

Freedom Party

(AIPFP)

- 2016 Tamil Nadu

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Types of Political Parties in India - Unrecognized Parties

What is an Unrecognized Party?

• An Unrecognized Political Party is the one who do not have the privilege of

contesting the elections on a symbol of its own.

• This[party have to choose one symbol out of the list of ‘free symbols’ issued by

the poll panel.

There are more than hundred Unrecognized Political Parties in India, some of

them are enlisted below:

S.

No.

Name Abbreviation Foundation

Year

States

1 Bhartiya Gramin Samaj

Party

BGSP 2015 Madhya Pradesh

2 Amra Bangali AMB 1983 West Bengal

3 Bhartiya Minorities

Suraksha Mahasangh

BMSM 1994 Maharashtra

4 Hindustani Awam

Morcha

HAM 2015 Bihar

5 Indhiya Jananayaga

Party

IJK 2010 Tamil Nadu

6 Indian Bold Citizen

Party

IBCP 2016 Kerala

7 Jan Samaikyanshra

Party

JSP 2014 Andhra Pradesh

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8 Jan Adhikar Party

Loktantrik

JAP 2015 Bihar

9 Jana Sena Party JSP 2014 Andhra Pradesh,

Telangana

10 Kerala Congress

(Jacob)

KCJ 1991 Kerala

11 Kerala (B) KCB 1989 Kerala

12 Kongynadu Makkal

Desia Katchi

KMDK 2001 Tamil Nadu

13 Namathu Kongu

Munnetra Kalagam

MKMK 2016 Tamil Nadu

14 Kisan Party of India KPI 2014 Bihar

15 Lok Satta Party LSP 2006 Andhra Pradesh,

Telangana

16 Manipur Peoples Party MPP 1968 Manipur

17 Manithaneya Makkal

Katchi

MMK 2009 Tamil Nadu

18 Marumalarchi Dravida

Munnetra Kazhgam

MDMK 1992 Tamil Nadu

19 Janta Dal JD 2017 Bihar, Jharkhand

20 Odisha Janmorcha OJM 2013 Odisha

21 Param Digvijay Dal PDD 2014 Uttar Pradesh

22 Peace Party of India PPI 2008 Uttar Pradesh

23 Puthiya Tamilagam PTK 1996 Tamil Nadu

24 Rashtriya Samaj

Paksha

RSP 2003 Maharashtra

25 Rashtriya Ulama

Council

RUC 2008 Uttar Pradesh

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26 Rashtriya Parirakshana

Samiti

RPS 2013 Andhra

27 Social Democratic Party

of India

SDPI 2009 Delhi, UP,

Rajasthan,

Gujarat,

Bihar, Madhya

Pradesh,

Jharkhand, Goa,

Tamil Nadu

United Progressive Alliance(UPA) and National

Democratic Alliance(NDA)

• UPA is the Alliance of State and Regional Parties supporting Indian National

Congress in Lok Sabha.

• NDA is Alliance of State and Regional Parties supporting BJP in Lok Sabha.

Can two Parties have Same Symbol?

Party Symbols are allotted by Election Commission of India. Two Parties can have same

symbol as long as they are not fighting the election against each other. Although

National Parties can use their symbol across the nation.

e.g. Samajwadi Party and J&K Panthers Party have same symbol since their regional

influence is different.

Hope this article was useful to know about the political parties in India. Stay updated

with more articles for competitive exams.