NCP's 3-Seat Win In Arunachal Assembly Elections Gives Ajit Pawar Big Boost Nationally. Here's Why

Arunachal Assembly Election Results: The NCP's win on 3 seats in the northeastern state has taken Ajit Pawar one step closer to his plans for the party nationally.

Arunachal Assembly Election Results: The NCP's small win in Arunachal is a big victory for Ajit Pawar's national expansion plans.

Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Election Result: The Arunachal Pradesh assembly election results were no surprise in terms of the majority gainer. Having won 10 seats unopposed way before polling was held on April 19, the BJP was almost sure to win the elections. The only question was by how much. The results on Sunday answered this as the BJP won 46 seats, up by 5 seats from last time.

However, it was the Ajit Pawar-led NCP that seemed to be celebrating the loudest. The reason? It's now just one state away from reclaiming its 'national party' tag. Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) opened its account in Arunachal Pradesh this year by winning three seats. His party had fielded 15 candidates in the assembly, of whom Toko Tatung, Likha Soni, and Nikh Kamin won the polls.

Ajit Pawar's NCP Bags 3 Seats In Arunachal Pradesh

The BJP crossed the majority mark in the 60-seat Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday by winning 46 constituencies. The National People's Party (NPEP) won five seats, Ajit Pawar's NCP won 3 seats, the PPA won 2 seats, and the Congress bagged just 1.

A momentous victory for the NCP!

We are thrilled to announce that the Nationalist Congress Party has won 3 Vidhan Sabha seats and secured more than 10% of the vote share in Arunachal Pradesh. This incredible success marks a significant step on our journey to regaining National… pic.twitter.com/nrlnCJnWEr

— Praful Patel (@praful_patel) June 2, 2024

Soon after the party's win, NCP leader Praful Patel posted on Twitter, "A momentous victory for the NCP! We are thrilled to announce that the Nationalist Congress Party has won 3 Vidhan Sabha seats and secured more than 10% of the vote share in Arunachal Pradesh. This incredible success marks a significant step on our journey to regaining National Party status. With previous victories in Maharashtra, Nagaland, and now Arunachal Pradesh, we are just one state away from achieving our goal. Congratulations to all our dedicated winners and especially to the State President of Arunachal Pradesh, Likha Saaya, for his exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment. Your hard work and vision have been instrumental in this triumph. Let's continue to build on this momentum and strive for even greater heights together! [sic]"

Criteria To Be A National Party

Praful Patel's joy stems from the fact that the NCP has become a recognised party in 3 states with the Arunachal win. To bag the 'national party' status, a political party needs to satisfy any of the following three conditions:

• Four or more states must recognise the party as a state party.
• The candidates of the party must be able to rake in at least 6% of the total valid votes polled in four or more states in the assembly elections and bag a minimum of 4 Lok Sabha seats in the last elections.
• It must have won 2% of the total Lok Sabha seats or more from at least 3 states in the last elections.

At present, there are 5 national parties — Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), National People’s Party (NPP), and Communist Party of India (CPI).

Benefits Of A National Party

• A national party's symbol is exclusively reserved for use by it across the country. It cannot be used by anyone else.
• A national party is allowed to field any number of candidates across all the states.
• The cap on the number of star campaigners for national parties is also increased to 40 as opposed to the 20 allowed for a registered unrecognised party.
• National parties are also allotted government plots to set up headquarters.
• Nominees of national parties need just one proposer during elections. 
• The national parties are also given two free sets of electoral rolls during the roll revision, while one free electoral roll is given to each candidate during general elections.