In a major feat for the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), it has touched its historic highest of 92 seats in the Rajya Sabha. Whereas, Indian National Congress on the other hand has fallen to 38 seats, a new low for the oldest party of the country.
With nine of 11 Rajya Sabha MPs elected on Monday belonging to BJP, the party has touched a new high of 92 MPs in the Upper House. A key milestone that will help the BJP in getting the key legislation passed which was a bottleneck in the first term because of the low number of seats in the Rajya Sabha.
Congress numbers have fallen to 38, a low for the party in Rajya Sabha with its combined strength in Parliament — including the Lok Sabha representation — at 89, which is well short of 100.
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The gap between BJP and Congress in Rajya Sabha is also at its widest ever!
The Rajya Sabha (RS) polls for 10 vacant seats in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and one in the hill state of Uttarakhand will be held on November 9 and the results are to be declared two days later.
Bhartiya Janta Party with 304 members in the 403-seat UP Assembly, is looking in the strongest position in the upper house, with eight seats likely to be won unopposed, and possibly one more in a contest.
Despite the historic wins in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019, the Rajya Sabha numbers were always a tailback on the BJP’s road. In May 2014, NDA had just 65 members in the Rajya Sabha!
Apart from the NDA’s numbers, the BJP has in the recent past, relied on the support of other parties such as the Biju Janata Dal, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, and YSR Congress Party. Together, these three comprise a block of 22 MPs.
By adding some others, by the winter session of 2020, the BJP-led NDA can hope for the support of 150 MPs which will make it easier for the party to pass legislative bills that require a 2/3rd majority (164 MPs in a 245-member house).
Since BJP has also lost its two close allies – Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal which have a combined total of 6 MPs and going back a few years before that it lost the support of the TDP and the PDP also. These additions in the number will act as a boost for the Bhartiya Janta Party in the Rajya Sabha.
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