New Delhi, Aug. 18: The original communists may be de-recognised as a national party. The Election Commission has sent a notice to the Communist Party of India, saying its status as a national party will be withdrawn because it has failed to prove its popularity.

The CPI has been asked to reply to the showcause notice by August 31.

Four years ago, the Election Commission had sent a similar notice to the CPM, the larger of the two communist parties. Since then, the rules for national status to political parties have been changed by the Election Commission that was then headed by M.S. Gill.

Commission sources said here today that the notice has been sent to the CPI because its performance in the elections is not commensurate with its status. According to the rules, a party should either get 2 per cent, or 11 seats, of the Lok Sabha strength from three different states or 6 per cent of votes in four different states plus four MPs.

The CPI has 10 members in the Lok Sabha and 6 per cent votes from Kerala and Manipur.

The review of the performance of political parties was conducted by the commission under the Elections Symbol (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. Notices have been sent to nine state-recognised parties, apart from the CPI, for withdrawal of their status. The state parties have been asked to reply to the showcause notices by September 3.

Among the prominent parties are the Trinamul Congress (which loses its status in Tripura while retaining it in Bengal), MDMK in Tamil Nadu, Kerala Congress, Pattali Makkal Katchi (loses its status in Pondicherry while retaining it in Tamil Nadu), CPI-ML (Liberation), Hill State Peoples’ Democratic Party (Meghalaya) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Simranjit Singh Mann).