AAP's bid for national party status will not be affected if MLAs switch sides: Expert

Even as some newly-elected AAP MLAs in Gujarat are expected to switch sides, a former Election Commission official on Monday (December 12) has clarified that this will not spoil the party’s efforts to obtain the national party tag.

According to the former EC official, if AAP MLAs in Gujarat abandon their party, this will not have any effect on AAP getting a national party tag. This is because post-election people leaving the (party) does not actually count, he said.

The official told PTI that the MLAs are elected on a particular party’s ticket and that will count towards their poll performance. “So, it will not affect their recognition (as a national party),” he pointed out.

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Further, he explained another scenario to drive his point home. In case of a party, which does not have the required number of legislators to form a government,  and gets MLAs from other parties, its poll performance does not improve. The reason being that the MLAs who switched sides had contested elections on some other party’s tickets.

Poll performance, he underlined, is linked to the performance of a party in elections. “After election, what happens actually does not matter,” said the former official who is considered an expert on electoral laws. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party contested 181 out of the total 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat, and won five, securing about 13 per cent vote share.

Quoting provisions of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, the former official said that a party needs state party status in four states to automatically become a national party. The party led by Arvind Kejriwal is already a recognised state party in Delhi, Goa and Punjab. It is in power in Delhi and Punjab.

Also read: Curious story of Delhi Cong councillors joining AAP and then returning within hours

According to him, a party needs eight per cent of votes in a state to get state party status.

Also, there are other ways to get the state party status as well. If a party gets six per cent votes and two seats in legislative Assembly, they can get the state party tag or they should get at least three seats in the Assembly irrespective of vote share.

With its performance in Gujarat, AAP is all set to become a recognised state party there.