Chandigarh, Mar 28 (UNI) Recognition of AAP as a national party is under process. This was disclosed by ECI while responding to an RTI, Advocate Hemant Kumar said on Tuesday.

Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate Hemant Kumar said that this information was provided by Election Commission of India through a letter dated March 23 signed by Jaydeb Lahiri, CPIO & ECI Secretary in response to a Right to Information application by him.
Advocate Kumar said that he had filed the online RTI application seeking information pertaining to grant of national party status to Aam Aadmi Party. He had also sought information pertaining to grant of state party status to AAP under paragraph 6A (i) of Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968 in the states of Goa and Gujarat on the basis of party's poll performance in assembly elections of both states last year.
Advocate Kumar said that after receiving the reply to his RTI query he had sent a letter to ECI appealing for grant of status of national party to AAP before the announcement of poll schedule by the ECI for Karnataka assembly elections and by-elections of vacant parliamentary constituency of Jalandhar in Punjab, where the poll schedule is likely to be announced by ECI anytime soon.

It may be recalled that AAP till September, 2022 used to be a state party only in Punjab and NCT of Delhi however there after the party firstly qualified to become a state party in Goa on basis of its performance in state assembly elections by obtaining more than 6 per cent votes and followed by Gujarat where it got more than 12 per cent votes.

Advocate Kumar told that the ECI had granted recognition to AAP as a state party in Goa in August 22 and had said that the notification would be issued in due course but it is yet to be published in the Gazette of India. As far as Gujarat is concerned, ECI has not issued any order or notification for the reasons best known to it, said Advocate Kumar.

Advocate Kumar further said that after conferment of state party status in Goa and Gujarat, AAP would become a state party in a total of four States hence it would qualify to become a national party under Paragraph 6B (iii) of Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968 on the similar lines as ECI granted recognition to National Peoples' Party (NPP) as a national party in June, 2019 after NPP became a state party in Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
UNI MR/GS RKM