BJP unlikely to get Rajya Sabha majority by next year

NEW DELHI: The BJP’s victory in the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh may not be enough for the ruling party to increase its strength in the Rajya Sabha so as to get a majority by next year.

Next year, 69 Rajya Sabha seats will fall vacant, including 56 in April ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The Upper House of Parliament has 239 members. Currently, the BJP is the single-largest party with 94 seats, followed by Congress with 30 seats and Trinamool Congress with 13 seats.

While the BJP is likely to retain 30 seats, which will fall vacant in April next year, the Congress will retain its seats and get an additional two from Telangana, which it wrested from the BRS in assembly polls held along with that of the other three states.

Prominent among those who would retire in April are former prime minster Manmohan Singh from Rajasthan, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav from Rajasthan, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan from Madhya Pradesh and Minister of State Purshottam Rupala from Gujarat.

While the BJP will gain more seats from Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the states where it stormed to power by replacing the Congress, the additional seats will come only in subsequent years.

In the Rajya Sabha, AAP and DMK have 10 members each, while BJD and YSR Congress Party have nine each. The BRS has seven members, Rashtriya Janata Dal has six and the Janata Dal (United) and CPI-M have five each.

While Uttar Pradesh has the maximum of 31 seats in Rajya Sabha, Madhya Pradesh has 11 seats, Rajasthan has 10 seats, Telangana has seven seats and Chhattisgarh has five seats.