Gujarat Polls: AAP To Become Eligible For Office Space In Delhi After Being Recognised As National Party

The Aam Aadmi Party won five seats with a 12.92 percent vote share in Gujarat Assembly polls results for which were declared on Thursday.

The Aam Aadmi Party will become eligible to get office space allotted by the central government in a prime location in the national capital after it is officially recognised as a national party by the Election Commission of India.

The party has already an office on the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg allotted by the Delhi government as the city's ruling party.

The president of the national party is also eligible to get a government accommodation.

"The National Political Parties, which have been recognised as such by the Election Commission of India, shall be allowed to retain/secure allotment of one housing unit from General Pool in Delhi for their office use on payment of licence fee under FR 45A i.e. the normal licence fee," states a office memorandum by the erstwhile Union Urban Development Ministry dated July 31, 2014.

It also states that the said accommodation will be provided for a period of three years during which the party would acquire a plot of land in an institutional area and will construct its own accommodation for the party office.

According to rules if the president of a recognised national party already has a government accommodation in any capacity, he or she will not be allotted other accommodation.

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal resides in an official bungalow at 6, Flagstaff Road in posh Civil Lines area in his capacity as Delhi chief minister.

The Aam Aadmi Party won five seats with a 12.92 percent vote share in Gujarat Assembly polls results for which were declared on Thursday.

Kejriwal said that though the AAP has not won many seats in Gujarat, the votes it got helped it attain the national party status.

In a video message, he thanked the people of Gujarat for helping his party breach the BJP's Gujarat "fortress", and hoped to win the state in the next assembly elections. Quoting provisions of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, a former election commission official said a party needs the State Party status in at least four states to automatically become a national party.

Arvind Kejriwal's AAP is already a recognised state party in Delhi and Punjab where it is in power. Earlier this year, it was also recognised as a state party in Goa.

A party needs eight per cent of votes in a state to get State Party status, a formal Election Commission official said.

"There are multiple alternatives. If a party gets six per cent votes and two seats in legislative assembly, it gets the status of a State Party. Another alternative to get State Party status is to get at least three seats in the assembly irrespective of vote share," the former poll panel official said.

Later in the day on Thursday, the AAP in a statement claimed that its election symbol jhaadu (broom) will become a permanent symbol, adding that now AAP will have a single election symbol in the whole country. This broom symbol will be reserved for AAP across India.

It also said that at the national level, the Aam Aadmi Party can now include as many as 40 star campaigners instead of the usual 20.

"After getting the national status, the Aam Aadmi Party will now get time on radio and television to address the common public in the national level elections. The president/chair of a party with national status is eligible to get government accommodation.

"Now only one proposer will be required in the nomination papers of candidates," the party said in the statement. 

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)