Will Sharad Pawar's NCP's national party status remain intact? Poll body to review today

The Election Commission of India on Tuesday will hear a representation from Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party in order to decide on its national party status, reported NDTV.

As per the report, NCP does not satisfy the requirement for national party status anymore. 

Criteria for a political party to be recognised as a national party

As per the ECI guidelines, a political party is recognised as a national party either its candidate secure at least 6 per cent votes in four or more states in Lok Sabha or Assembly polls or it has to win 2 per cent of the total Lok Sabha seats from across three states.

Besides, the national party status for any party comes with a host of advantages, including a common party symbol across states, free airtime during elections on public broadcasters, space for a party office in New Delhi, and more.

Though the national party status of NCP came up for review before the poll commission after the 2019 general election, the commission later decided to retain the status quo in view of a string of assembly elections that were coming up.

What happens if NCP loses its national party status?

After the ECI’s review, if its representation is not accepted, the party will only be able to use its election symbol in states where it is recognised as a state party.