Today’s by-elections for the upper house resulted in the election of nine BJP members and two allies, giving the ruling NDA a majority in the Rajya Sabha. With the nine, the BJP has 96 members in the upper house, compared to the NDA’s 112. Three more candidates were elected without opposition, one from each of the NDA’s partners, the Rashtriya Lok Manch and the NCP section led by Ajit Pawar. Six nominees and one independent member back the ruling alliance as well.
Additionally, one Congressman was elected, bringing the total number of Opposition members in the Upper House to 85.
The Rajya Sabha has 245 seats, but there are eight seats up for grabs right now—four are nominated and four are from Jammu & Kashmir. Currently holding a 237 strength, the majority mark is 119.
Ranjan Dass and Rameshwar Teli from Assam, Manan Kumar Mishra from Bihar, Kiran Chadhary from Haryana, George Kurien from Madhya Pradesh, Dhirya Sheel Patil from Maharashtra, Mamata Mohanta from Odisha, Ravneet Singh Bittu from Rajasthan, and Rajeev Bhattacharjee from Tripura were among the BJP candidates who were elected without any opposition.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress won Telangana without a challenge. Nitin Patil of the NCP Ajit Pawar faction was elected from Maharashtra, and Updendra Kushwaha of the RLM won a seat in the upper house from Bihar.
The NDA has been attempting for ten years to secure a majority mark in the Rajya Sabha, which would facilitate the easy passage of controversial laws.
Over the years, the massive Opposition numbers have frequently caused the upper house to delay controversial government proposals. With the support of non-aligned parties like YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress and Biju Janata Dal led by Naveen Patnaik, some of them might pass.
However, their backing is currently insufficient since both parties are losing ground in their respective states, one to the BJP and the other to Chandrababu Naidu, its ally.
