 "NDA crosses majority mark in Rajya Sabha: Why it matters for govt")
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has surpassed the majority mark in the Rajya Sabha, less than two months after falling short of the numbers. This comes after 11 members from the coalition, including nine from the BJP, were elected unopposed ahead of the by-polls for the Upper House slated for September 3.
The majority matters to the ruling NDA as it ensures the government can get bills passed in the Rajya Sabha without depending on the non-aligned parties.
What were the numbers? How have they changed? Why is it a big deal for the BJP-led NDA? Let’s understand.
Numbers in Rajya Sabha before by-polls
Ahead of the by-polls, the NDA had the support of 110 MPs, including six nominated members and an independent from Haryana.
As of July 15, the opposition INDIA bloc held 87 seats, with the Congress accounting for 26 seats.
The Rajya Sabha has a strength of 245 but eight seats are currently vacant. Of these vacancies, four are from Jammu and Kashmir and four are for nominated members. If there were no vacancies, the majority mark would be 122.
However, at present, the Upper House has 237 members and the majority mark is 119.
Twelve seats, for which by-polls were to be held, became vacant after ten members of the Upper House fought and won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections . Two Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant from Odisha and Telangana after the defection of two members to other parties.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAfter new members’ oath
Of the 12 members elected unopposed ahead of the by-elections, nine are from the BJP, two from its allies and one from the opposition Congress.
Those elected on Tuesday (August 27) include Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu from Rajasthan and George Kurian from Madhya Pradesh. The other BJP candidates are ex-Congress leader Kiran Choudhry (Haryana), former BJD leader Mamata Mohanta (Odisha), Manan Kumar Mishra (Bihar), Dhairyasheel Patil (Maharashtra) and Rajeev Bhattacharjee (Tripura).
Upendra Kushwaha of Rashtriya Lok Morcha, an ally of NDA, has been elected unopposed from Bihar, along with the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Nitin Patil from Maharashtra.
Mission Ranjan Dass and Rameshwar Teli were elected unopposed from Assam on Monday (August 26).
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi was elected unopposed from Telangana yesterday.
Now, the NDA has crossed the majority mark in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP’s tally has touched 96 with nine more MPs. After the new members are sworn in, the ruling alliance’s strength will reach 121 in the Rajya Sabha.
The Janata Dal (United) has four and the NCP has three members in the Rajya Sabha. The NDA has 10 more members courtesy of its other allies.
The opposition INDIA bloc’s tally stands at 85 in the Upper House after one Congress member was elected unopposed. The Grand Old Party now has 27 members, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has 13 MPs, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and DMK have 10 members each and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has five.
Non-aligned parties like the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have 11 and eight members, respectively.
ALSO READ: In Graphics | How Rajya Sabha MPs are elected
Why majority matters for NDA
Until July, the scenario looked grim for the BJP-led NDA as it lost majority in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP’s strength in the house declined to 86 after the term of four nominated members ended.
Now, the NDA has crossed the 119-majority mark in the 237-member Rajya Sabha with the election of new members. The ruling alliance also has the support of six nominated members and one independent in the house.
When the government plans to fill the four vacant seats in the nominated category, the NDA’s support base could get a further boost to 125, noted Deccan Herald.
With this, the BJP-led NDA does not have to go out of its way to court the non-aligned parties like the YSRCP and the BJD which have previously helped it in passing crucial bills.
However, after the recent simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha, Naveen Patnaik’s BJD declared it would not back the BJP in the Upper House like it did before.
The NDA would also have had to seek the support of former ally All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) to get its legislative agenda cleared.
The BJP-led alliance has previously struggled to get contentious legislation such as Triple Talaq and land reforms passed in Rajya Sabha due to lack of majority. The government got the Triple Talaq Bill passed during its second tenure with the help of friendly opposition parties like the BJD, YSRCP, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and AIADMK.
The new-found majority will aid the NDA in getting important legislation passed in the Rajya Sabha without obstacles.
With inputs from agencies
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