Registration and recognition are two different things, and conflating them causes most of the confusion about symbols and party status. Every party registers. Only a few are recognised.
Registration
A party registers with the Election Commission under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, applying within 30 days of its formation.
The application is published in two national and two local newspapers, and anyone may object within 30 days. The party’s constitution must contain a specific declaration, in prescribed terms, of true faith and allegiance to the Constitution and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy, and to uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
Registration brings tax benefits and preference over independents in the allotment of free symbols. It does not bring a reserved symbol.
Recognition
Recognition as a State Party or a National Party comes under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, and depends on performance: broadly, a defined share of the vote and a number of seats won, across a qualifying number of states in the national case.
The practical prize is the reserved symbol. A recognised state party holds its symbol exclusively in that state; a national party holds it across India. That is why symbol disputes between factions are fought so hard.
As of the Commission’s published figures there are 6 national parties, 67 state parties, and 2,854 registered unrecognised parties.
Why the unrecognised number is so large
Registration is comparatively easy and carries tax advantages, while recognition is hard. The result is a long tail of parties that exist on the register and contest little or nothing.
The Commission has moved against this: a party that does not contest elections continuously for six years can be taken off the register, and delisting exercises have removed hundreds at a time.
What this means on your ballot
The symbol beside a candidate’s name tells you something precise. A reserved symbol means a recognised party. A free symbol means an independent or a candidate of a registered unrecognised party.
It also affects nomination: a recognised party’s candidate needs one proposer, while everyone else needs ten. See how candidates file nominations.
Party profiles and symbols for Indian parties are on the main India वोट Kar site.
When a party splits
Factions do not simply divide a symbol between them. Where a recognised party splits, the Election Commission decides which faction is entitled to the reserved symbol, under paragraph 15 of the Symbols Order.
The test applied has centred on which faction commands majority support, historically weighed through support among the party’s elected legislators and office-bearers rather than its claims about itself. The losing faction is generally allotted a new name and a free symbol, and must build recognition again from scratch.
This is why splits are fought over the symbol above almost everything else. A symbol is decades of voter recognition, and on a ballot where many voters identify a party by its picture, losing it is a material loss of votes.
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