Ajit Pawar’s NCP to contest Delhi Election 2025. Will it help party reclaim national party tag?
Delhi Election 2025: The NCP has contested elections outside Maharashtra in the past. This is the first Delhi polls Ajit Pawar's party is contesting after the NCP split in July 2023. Here's what's different now.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's party, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), released its first list of 11 candidates for the 2025 Delhi assembly polls on Saturday. If reports are to be believed, the party is expected to field candidates in 25 Delhi assembly seats.
In its first candidate list, the NCP fielded Mulayam Singh from Badli against Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav, Ratan Tyagi from Burari, Khalid Ur Rehman from Chandni Chowk, Mohammad Harun from Balli Maran and Imran Saifi from Okhla, news agency PTI reported.
Meanwhile, NCP leader Narender Tanwar will contest from Chhatarpur, Namaha from Laxmi Nagar, Jagdish Bhagat from Gokulpuri, Khem Chand from Mangolpuri, Rajesh Lohiya from Seemapuri, and Qamar Ahmad from Sangam Vihar.
Key candidates in the NCP's first list include Ratan Tyagi from Burari, Shri Mulayam Singh from Badli, Khalid Ur Rehman from Chandni Chowk, and Narender Tanwar from Chhatarpur.
According to news agency ANI, Brijmohan Shrivastav, the National General Secretary and Chief National Spokesperson, said the candidates represented the NCP's core values. "We believe that these candidates will best represent our party's vision and commitment to the city's future," Shrivastav remarked.
The Delhi assembly election 2025 is likely to witness a triangular contest between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Why is NCP contesting Delhi election?
The NCP is a state party and one of the major political parties in Maharashtra. It is currently part of the ruling Mahayuti government in Maharashtra. The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP.
The NCP has contested state elections outside Maharashtra in the past. In the 2020 Delhi polls, the NCP (united) fought for five seats but won none. But this is the first time it's contesting the Delhi election after the NCP split between Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar faction in July 2023.
NCP chief Ajit Pawar and other party leaders have been emphasising regaining the national party status after the Lok Sabha 2024 debacle.
In the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the NCP won just one of the 48 parliamentary seats in Maharashtra. Later, in the Maharashtra assembly elections held in November 2024, the NCP won 41 of the total 288 seats.
Ajit Pawar had earlier said, “Our party was once a national party. To reclaim that status, we need to work harder now. We will fight, and we will achieve success.”
Meanwhile, NCP MP Praful Patel had also highlighted in one of his speeches that "the NCP used to be one of the national parties in the country but in the last few years, the spread of the party has stopped and shrunk".
The NCP had contested the Jammu and Kashmir and the Jharkhand assembly elections for 35 and 25 seats, respectively, but could not get even one seat. In Arunachal, it won three out of the 14 seats it contested (35 per cent vote share).
NCP's history in brief
The NCP was formed by Sharad Pawar in 1999 and became a national party in 2000 following its success in various elections.
Before the split, the united NCP had won seven seats with a 46.1 per cent vote share in the Nagaland elections (February 2023). The NCP was a national party then, under the leadership of Sharad Pawar.
In April 2023, the NCP, along with other parties lost the national party status. The NCP lost its state party status in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya, as per the EC order.
After the split in the party, the NCP is looking to regain its national party status. To achieve this feat, the party has been contesting elections outside Maharashtra.
How to become national and state party
The Election Commission has laid down detailed criteria for the proportion of votes and seats that a party must get to be a recognised party.
According to the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, a party that secures at least six per cent of the total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four States and wins at least four seats in the Lok Sabha is recognised as a national party.
Currently, the NCP (Ajit Pawar) has MLAs in Maharashtra (41 seats, 9 per cent vote share), Nagaland (7 seats, 46.1 per cent vote share) and Arunachal Pradesh (three seats, 35 per cent vote share).
This is one criterion to be recognised as a national party. The other two are:
1. At the last general election to the House of the People, the party has won at least two per cent of the total number of seats in the House of the People, any fraction exceeding half being counted as one; and the party's candidates have been elected to that House from not less than three States; or
2. The party is recognised as a State party in at least four States.
Criteria to be recognised as a state party:
1. In the last election to the Legislative Assembly of the State, the candidates of a party have secured not less than six per cent of the total valid votes polled in the State; and, in addition, the party has returned at least two members to the Legislative Assembly of that State at such general election; or
2. At the last general election to the Lok Sabha from that State, the candidates of the party have secured not less than six per cent of the total valid votes polled in the State; and, in addition, the party has returned at least one member to the House of the People from that State at such general election; or
3. In the assembly elections of the State, the party has won at least three per cent of the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly, (any fraction exceeding half being counted as one), or at least three seats in the Assembly, whichever is more; or
4. In the last general election to the Lok Sabha from the State, the party has returned at least one member to the House of the People for every 25 members or any fraction thereof allotted to that State; or
5. At the last general election to the Lok Sabha from the State or at the last Assembly election of the State, the candidates set up by the Party have secured not less than eight per cent of the total valid votes polled in the State.
Catch all the live action on Elections and get exclusive coverage on Assembly Election Results 2024 with Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Business NewsElectionsAssembly ElectionsAjit Pawar’s NCP to contest Delhi Election 2025. Will it help party reclaim national party tag?
First Published:30 Dec 2024, 04:36 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High