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.
The losses for the BJP are expected from Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. In Rajasthan, the Congress is hoping to pull through three seats on support from independents. Currently, all the four seats from the State which are going to polls are with the BJP. In Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra the BJP will lose one seat each because of the change in its numerical strength in the respective State Assemblies.
Assam example
A senior BJP leader reminded that the real figure will emerge only after the elections. “In Assam, the BJP was short of seven votes for the second seat and yet, it managed to win. The Congress, which had the numbers, could not hold on to the seat of its own State unit president Ripun Bora,” he said.
The BJP is not particularly perturbed by missing the 100-figure mark, because with support of its allies — the AIADMK, the JD(U) and friendly parties like the YSR Congress and the Biju Janata Dal, it has managed to get crucial Bills passed. “We are currently comfortably placed in the Rajya Sabha and the Opposition’s efforts of creating problems in blocking key legislation won’t succeed,” said V. Muraleedharan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs.
