Nationally Recognised Political Parties in India

There are 7 nationally recognised political parties in India. The following table gives their names, popular acronyms and symbols.

Party Name	Acronym	Symbol	Image
Bahujan Samaj Party	BSP	Elephant*
Bharatiya Janata Party	BJP	Lotus
Communist Party of India	CPI	Ears of Corn and Sickle
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	CPI(M)/CPM	Hammer, Sickle and Star
Indian National Congress	INC /Congress	Hand(Open Palm)
Nationalist Party of India	NCP	Clock
Rashtriya Janata Dal	RJD	Hurricane Lamp (Lantern)

*except in Assam and Sikkim, where BSP candidates have to choose from free symbols. Elephant symbol belongs to Asom Gana Parishad in those states.

Also see: Recognition of a political party by the election commission.
Source: http://eci.nic.in/ElectoralLaws/OrdersNotifications/symbols170309.pdf