The All India Trinamool Congress has been granted national party status, the Election Commission of India confirmed on Friday, according to ANI. The Mamata Banerjee-led outfit is now the seventh national political party in the country. Party Vice President Mukul Roy had earlier said that he had received an unofficial confirmation from the poll monitoring body.

According to the new rules of the Election Commission, a political party has to either win 2% of the seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states in the latest general election, or it has to win 6% of the total valid votes in at least four states in a Lok Sabha or a Assembly election, in addition to winning four Lower House seats. A party can also get national status if it is recognised as a state party in at least four states.

The EC had also decided to review the status of political parties every 10 years instead of five from now on. Besides West Bengal, where the TMC has formed government twice, the party has presence in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.