National People’s Party to get national party status

National People’s Party to get national party status

Shillong, June 07 (HS): The Election Commission of India (ECI) is all set to grant “national party” status to the National People’s Party (NPP).

According to sources in the Election Commission, the NPP has fulfilled the required criteria to qualify as a “national party” after winning five seats in the recently held Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

The ECI notification on granting “national party” status to NPP is likely to be made in a day or two.

Indicating this to reporters in Shillong, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that once it happens it will be proud moment for the party and people of the North eastern region.

We are waiting for the letter from EC, he said adding it would be dream come true for its founder Purno Agitok Sangma.

It will be the first political party from northeast to get the status. The NPP, which is a partner in the ruling NDA in Centre, was founded by former Lok Sabha speaker Purno Agitok Sangma in January, 2013.

One of the criteria to be declared as a national party is to be at least recognized as a state party in four states.

NPP is recognised as a state party in Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

Recognition as a national party ensures that the election symbol of that party is not used by any other political entity across India. Book is the election symbol of NPP.

Besides, the national parties are allocated land or buildings from the government to set up their party offices in New Delhi.

Currently, it is a part of North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) consisting of political parties of the northeast led by BJP. It is also the single largest political party in Meghalaya with 21 members in the 60-member house.

NPP won five seats in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh. The party has four MLAs in Manipur, and Y. Joykumar Singh is the deputy Chief Minister of the state. Though not having any legislator in Nagaland Assembly, it is recognized as a “state party”.