How Arvind Kejriwal's AAP became a 'national party' despite failing in Gujarat, Himachal elections

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of the northern Indian city-state of Delhi, might not have produced the result it would have liked in the recently held elections in the two states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, but yet it could do enough to bag the status of a 'national party' in these polls, particularly in Gujarat, the home state of prime minister Narendra Modi.

In Gujarat, the AAP secured a vote share of 12 per cent along with five seats. This means, the party, which was formed a decade ago, has met the criteria of six per cent vote share and two seats to be recognised as a 'state party' by the Election Commission of India. And since Gujarat became the fourth state where the AAP succeeded in getting the status of a 'state party' after Delhi, Punjab, and Goa, it got upgraded into a national party.

In Delhi, the first state that came under the AAP's rule, the party won 29 seats in the 2013 assembly elections but Kejriwal's government lasted just seven weeks. However, it came back to power again later with record victories in 2015 and 2020.

In Punjab, the second state where the party came to power earlier this year, the AAP received the status of a state party as it won 20 of the 117 assembly seats and nearly a quarter of the votes in 2017. In 2022, it increased its seat tally to 91 to form the government.

In Goa, too, the AAP helped itself to become a national party. It got two seats and 6.77 per cent vote share there to become a 'state party' and needed the same in just one more state which it did in Gujarat.

In Himachal, however, the AAP did miserably with just one per cent vote share and no seats.

The AAP is the ninth party in India to get a national status. The other eight are the Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress, and National People's Party.