
(Image source from: Timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
The BJP's strength in the Rajya Sabha increased till 4 pm on Saturday after many of its nominated members like Rakesh Sinha, Ram Shakal, Sonal Mensingh and Mahesh Jethmalani completed their terms. All four were elected as non-binding members by President Draupadi Murmu on the recommendation of the ruling party and later officially joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Their resignations have reduced the BJP's strength to 86 and the party-led National Democratic Alliance's strength to 101, below the current majority threshold of 113 in the 245-member Assembly. The current strength of Rajya Sabha is 225. There are 87 Congress-led Indian blocs, including 26 Congress, 13 ruling Bengal Trinamool and 10 Aam Aadmi Party and DMK ruling in Delhi and Tamil Nadu. Every. The rest are held by MLAs and independent parties nominated by non-aligned BJP or Congress parties (like former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's BRS). This is because the government will now have to rely on non-NDA parties - including former ally AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the YSR Congress party led by the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister - to pass the bill in the Upper House, assuming , the BJP can now count on 15 votes After the votes of the NDA MPs, the bill needs at least 13 additional yes votes to be passed.
The YSRCP (11 seats) and the AIADMK (4 seats) are the BJP's two most prominent "allies", although relations with the BJP have been strained since their split in December last year, months before the elections. Mr Jagan Reddy's YSRCP has supported the BJP in the past and Mr Modi's party has secured at least 11 votes. Former Odisha chief Naveen Patnaik's BJD offered similar support but has now announced it will no longer do so after losing to the BJP in state elections in May and June. BJD has 9 Rajya Sabha MPs. If the AIADMK is unwilling to lend support and the BJD turns its back on Naveen Patnaik, the BJP will rely on the votes of its nominated members. A total of 12 members will be appointed to the Rajya Sabha. Even if they are non-committal when invited because they are elected by the government, they actually tend to support the ruling party. Non-aligned and independent parties such as the BRS with four members can also take part. There are currently a total of 20 open seats, of which 11 seats are available to elected officials and will be voted on this year. Of these, there are two seats each in Maharashtra, Assam and Bihar and one each in Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Tripura.
The BJP-led coalition has the numbers to win in seven states: Assam, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tripura. And if they can keep the pack together in Maharashtra, they can pick up two more wins from there. This could allow the BJP to win up to nine additional seats. If he wins and the votes of the nominated members and the YSRCP votes are combined, he will have enough votes to cross the majority limit. Four seats are also vacant in Jammu and Kashmir and as per the Supreme Court order, assembly elections are scheduled to be held by September 30. The Telangana seat is likely to be won by the Congress, which won a landslide victory last year. This is very important as it will give the party enough votes to take the post of Leader of the Opposition in India's Rajya Sabha. After this, the Congress will hold LoP seats in both houses.