Union Minister Anurag Thakur on April 11 said the Election Commission (EC) acted as per rules in denying the national and the State party status to those who were not getting support of the people and were "continuously on decline".
On April 10, the EC stripped the national party status of Trinamool Congress, the NCP and the CPI, and recognised the AAP as a national party. It also revoked the State party status of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which is active in western Uttar Pradesh and some other parties.
"Those who did not get votes, who did not get acceptance by the public and had continuously been on the decline, on them the Election Commission has given its decision as per the rules," Mr. Thakur, who was in Bulandshahr to attend an event, said when asked about the Election Commission decision.
After the latest reorganisation of party status by the EC, the country now has six national parties – the BJP, the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the CPI(M), the National People's Party (NPP) and the AAP.
A national party tag allows an outfit to get a common poll symbol across the country, more star campaigners, free air time on national broadcasters for election campaigns and by convention office space in Delhi. Benefits on similar lines are also allowed to a State party.
On the upcoming Karnataka election, Mr. Thakur expressed confidence that the BJP will win the State. “The BJP won Gujarat, Tripura won, Assam won, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand...and will also win Karnataka,” he added. The Union Minister also said training is being given to lakhs of youths through skill development.
