--National:Six parties are recognised as national parties. They are sorted into the name, acronym, year of formation and the party leader. 1.Bahujan Samaj Party[1] BSP 1984 Kanshi Ram 2Bharatiya Janata Party BJP 1980 Rajnath Singh 3Communist Party of India CPI 1925[2] A.B. Bardhan 4.Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) 1964 Prakash Karat 5.Indian National Congress INC 1885 Sonia Gandhi 6.Nationalist Congress Party NCP 1999 Sharad Pawar

--State:If a party is recognised as a state party by the Election Commission, it can reserve a symbol for its exclusive use in the state. The following are a list of recognised parties and the state recognised. 1.All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK 1972 J. Jayalalitha Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry 2.All India Forward Bloc FBL 1939 Debabrata Biswas West Bengal 3.Arunachal Congress AC 1996 Kamen Ringu Arunachal Pradesh 4.Asom Gana Parishad AGP 1985 Prafulla Kumar Mahanta Assam 5.Biju Janata Dal BJD 1997 Naveen Patnaik Orissa 6.Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) 7.Liberation CPI (ML) 1974 Dipankar Bhattacharya Assam 8.Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DMK 1949 M Karunanidhi Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry 9.Federal Party of Manipur FPM NA Gangmumei Kamei Manipur 10.Hill State People's Democratic Party HSPDP NA H.S. Lyngdoh Meghalaya 11.Indian National Lok Dal INLD 1999 Om Prakash Chautala Haryana 12.Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra INPT 2001 Bijoy Hrangkwal Tripura 13.Jammu & Kashmir National Conference JKNC 1932 Omar Abdullah Jammu and Kashmir 14.Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party JKNPP NA Bhim Singh Jammu and Kashmir 15.Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party PDP 1998 Mufti Mohammed Sayeed Jammu and Kashmir 16.Janata Dal (Secular) JD (S) 1999 H.D. Deve Gowda Karnataka 17.Janata Dal (United) JD (U) 1999 George Fernandes Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka 18.Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy JPSS 1994 K.R. Gowri Amma Kerala 19.Jharkhand Mukti Morcha JMM 1972 Shibu Soren Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa 20.Kerala Congress KEC 1964 P.J. Joseph Kerala 21.Kerala Congress (Mani) KEC (M) 1979 C.F Thomas Kerala 22.Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MAG 1963 Shashikala Kakodkar Goa 23.Manipur People's Party MPP 1968 O. Joy Singh Manipur 24.Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MDMK 1993 Vaiko Tamil Nadu 25.Meghalaya Democratic Party MDP NA M.D. Mukhim Meghalaya 26.Mizo National Front MDF 1959 Pu Zoramthanga Mizoram 27.Mizoram People's Conference MZPC 1972 Pu Lalhmingthanga Mizoram 28.Muslim League Kerala State Committee MUL 1948 G.M. Banatwalla Kerala 29.Nagaland People's Front NPF 2002 Neiphiu Rio Nagaland 30.Nationalist Democratic Movement NDM 1994 K.L. Chishi Nagaland 31.Nationalist Trinamool Congress NTC 2004 Mamta Banerjee West Bengal 32.Pattali Makkal Katchi PMK 1989 G.K. Mani Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry 33.Rashtriya Janata Dal RJD 1997 Laloo Prasad Yadav Bihar, Jharkhand 34.Rashtriya Lok Dal RLD 1998 Ajit Singh Uttar Pradesh 35.Revolutionary Socialist Party RSP 1940 K. Pankajakshan West Bengal 36.Samajwadi Party SP 1992 Mulayam Singh Yadav Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal Karnataka 37.Shiromani Akali Dal SAD 1920 Parkash Singh Badal Punjab 38.Shiromani Akali Dal (Simranjit Singh Mann) SAD (M) 1990 Simranjit Singh Mann Punjab 39.Shiv Sena SHS 1966 Uddhav Thackeray[3] Maharashtra 40.Sikkim Democratic Front SDF 1993 Pawan Kumar Chamling Sikkim 41.Telugu Desam Party TDP 1982 Chandrababu Naidu Andhra Pradesh 42.United Democratic Party UDP NA Donkupar Roy Meghalaya 43.United Goans Democratic Party UGDP 1994 Srirang Narvekar Goa 44.Uttarakhand Kranti Dal UKKD 1979 Bipin Chandra Tripathi Uttaranchal 45.Zoram Nationalist Party ZNP 1997 Lalduhomo Mizoram

(Rated by 5 Council Members)

Next up you have the third front consisting of the erstwhile Janata Dal which has now broken into small splinter parties.

Over the last decade, BJP has emerged as a sole alternative to Congress, but its communal shade undermines its image.

Then there are a horde of regional parties like Samta Party, RJD and AIADMK which also make up the numbers.

Hope this is good for a beginner.

Cheers!

(Rated by 5 Council Members)

(Rated by 6 Council Members)

I am not expert in politics, but this is what i could gather for you.

This is an Index of Indian political sites available on the Internet, with links to Parties, Organizations, Governments and Media.

www.politicalresources.net/india.ht…

Here you can know about all the political parties in INDIA.

adaniel.tripod.com/parties.htm

These are National parties http://adaniel.tripod.com/national.…

Thse are state or regional parties http://adaniel.tripod.com/regional.…

Here you can find the profiles of major parties in INDIA. www.indian-elections.com/partyprofi…

Few more worthy site and links are:

indiafocus.indiainfo.com/govt/politics/parties/

www.indiaonestop.com/Election2004/p…

www.indiagateway.com/gov/parties.ht…

www.123world.com/politics/…

in.dir.yahoo.com/Government/Politics/Parties/

www.indianchild.com/political_parti…

www.answers.com/topic/… list-of-political-parties-in-india

The last one might provide more current info(answers.com)

This is a wikipedia source. Through and precise: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_political_parties_in_India

All of this, i got from Google. If you want to try out yourself, then try this search string: political party +INDIA as i have shown in bold face. You can find more interesting results.

I hope this answers your query.

Bye

(Rated by 6 Council Members)