Shubhangi Chauhan, Pune
On Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seats in Parliament’s upper house, Rajya Sabha dipped to 86 after four nominated members- Rakesh Sinha, Ram Shakal, Sonal Mansingh, and Mahesh Jethmalani- completed their term. These four were selected as non-aligned members by President Droupadi Murmu on the advice of the BJP and later formally joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
With the retirement, BJP’s power in the Upper House comes down to 86. BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has 101 members, 12 below the majority mark (113) in a house of 245 members. Currently, the Rajya Sabha has 225 members.
Congress-led INDIA has 87 members in the opposition camp in the Upper House. With Congress having 26 seats, Trinamool Congress having 13 seats, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu having 10 members each.
The dipping in the number in Rajya Sabha puts the Modi government in a comparatively difficult situation even in the upper house, weeks after BJP required the mandatory support of its allies to come to power. The short of majority means the NDA, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now relies on the support of parties like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).
YSRCP, led by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has 11 MPs while AIADMK has 4 members, both parties had earlier supported the Modi government. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) led by Naveen Patnaik too had supported Modi on several occasions but it would be interesting to see how things pan out, as the party will no longer extend its support after BJP removed Naveen Patnaik’s government in the recent Odisha Assembly Polls. Other parties, neither aligned by BJP or Congress, including nominated MPs and independents, hold the remaining seats.
At present, there are 20 vacant seats in the Rajya Sabha, including 11 held by elected members for which elections are due this year. Maharashtra, Assam, and Bihar with two seats each and one seat each in Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Tripura. Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections would be important as these states go to polls later this year.