New Delhi: Fifty three political parties had contested the first Lok Sabha polls in 1951. The number of political parties today stands at over 2,500. However, the national party count has gone down to six from 14 in over seven decades.
Contesting the general elections in May to elect the 18th Lok Sabha will be six national parties. The journey of political parties all these years has been an interesting ride from mergers to emergence of new players while some of them have ceased to exist.
A total of 53 political parties contested the first election, of which 14 were considered “national parties” while the rest were considered “state” parties.