News Mania Desk/Agnibeena Ghosh/16th July 2024
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has seen its numbers in the Rajya Sabha drop by four members as the terms of nominated members Rakesh Sinha, Ram Shakal, Sonal Mansingh, and Mahesh Jethmalani ended on Saturday. These members, appointed by President Droupadi Murmu on the recommendation of the BJP, were non-aligned nominees.
With their departure, the BJP’s Rajya Sabha tally is now 86 seats, reducing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s strength to 101 seats, below the majority mark of 113 in the 245-member House. However, the NDA still has the support of seven remaining nominated MPs and one independent member. The current Rajya Sabha strength stands at 225 members.
In the Lok Sabha, the BJP holds 240 seats, falling short of the majority mark of 272. This shortfall in both houses of Parliament means the BJP now relies on support from non-NDA parties. The opposition bloc, led by the Congress, holds 87 seats in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress has 26 seats, the Trinamool Congress 13, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) each have 10 seats.
Other seats are held by parties not aligned with either the BJP or Congress, including nominated MPs and independents. To pass legislation, the BJP must now seek support from former allies like Tamil Nadu’s AIADMK and Andhra Pradesh’s YSR Congress, led by Jagan Mohan Reddy, who has provided issue-based support in the past. However, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), once a supporter, has withdrawn its backing after a contentious 2024 election where Naveen Patnaik lost his chief minister position to the BJP.
This dependency will continue until the BJP fills the four vacant nominated seats and the 11 elected seats that will be contested later this year. Currently, the Rajya Sabha has 20 vacant seats, including two each in Maharashtra, Assam, and Bihar, and one each in Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Tripura. Additionally, four seats from Jammu and Kashmir are vacant, with elections anticipated following a Supreme Court directive to hold Assembly elections in the region by September 30.
Upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Telangana are crucial. The Telangana election is particularly significant for the Congress, which hopes to secure enough seats to claim the Leader of the Opposition post in the Rajya Sabha, potentially holding this position in both Houses of Parliament.
