meerut a day after the election commission ec downgraded several political parties from national party and state party statuses union minister anurag thakur on tuesday justified the action stating those who did not get votes who did not get acceptance by the public and had continuously been on the decline on them the election commission has given its decision as per the rulesthe minister of information and broadcasting who also holds the portfolio of youth affairs and sports was in bulandshahrs khalaur sports stadium in jahangirabad town on tuesday here he not only felicitated promising sportspersons but also announced the establishment of an indoor stadium in the districton monday the ec stripped the national party status of trinamool congress nationalist congress party ncp and the communist party of india cpi and recognised aap as a national party after the latest reorganisation of party status by the election commission the country now has six national parties bjp congress bsp cpim national peoples party npp and aap another party that suffered a jolt is rashtriya lok dal rld ec revoked the state party status of rld which has a stronghold in western uttar pradesh and has eight mlas in the current state assemblyrld national secretary rajkumar sangwan told toi the timing of the decisions smells of political witch hunt we all know all agencies are under the absolute control of the government in the present times the upcoming municipal elections are being seen as a rehearsal for general elections next yearhe added if the intentions of the ec are unbiased then it will pay heed to our appeal against the decision give us the opportunity to be heard and will not delist our party symbola national party tag allows an outfit to get a common poll symbol across the country more star campaigners free airtime on national broadcasters for election campaigns and by convention office space in delhi benefits on similar lines are also allowed to a state party