Last month, the BJP had touched the elusive 100-member mark in the Upper House but with the fresh round of Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for June this year, the party’s tally will fall once again below this much celebrated fête.
On April 1 after winning three Rajya Sabha seats in the north-east, the BJP had reached the tally of 100. It was for the first time since 1988 that a ruling party touched this figure in the Upper House. In 1988 during the Rajiv Gandhi government, the Congress had a similar strength here.
In the June 10 elections, where 57 seats are up for grabs, as per the current records, the BJP has 24 seats, these include three from Andhra Pradesh after TDP MPs switched sides in June 2019. In the upcoming election, all seats from Andhra Pradesh will go to the YSR Congress. Out of the 24 seats, the BJP is likely to retain only 20 seats, bringing its current total of 95 members down to 91. Seven nominated seats are vacant and the BJP could count on these seven to add to its tally. But even then the BJP will fall two short of the figure of 100.
