In a first since 2014, ruling NDA gets majority in Rajya Sabha

For the first time since 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has a majority in the Rajya Sabha.

Until now, the BJP had relied on friendly parties not aligned with either the NDA or the Opposition’s INDIA bloc to get its legislative agenda cleared in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Parliament. Now, that’s no longer the case as it has a majority of its own.

In the Rajya Sabha bypolls scheduled for September 3 for 12 seats, the NDA has won 11. While the BJP’s nine candidates won unopposed, two candidates of allies —one each of Rashtriya Lok Morcha and NCP’s Ajit Pawar faction— also won.

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In the 245-member Rajya Sabha, while the majority-mark is 123, the magic number is currently 119 as four seats from Jammu and Kashmir and nominated members are vacant.

Prior to the bypolls, the BJP had 87 MPs and the broader NDA had 105. The eight members nominated by the government, who are almost always aligned with the government of the day, took the number to 113. Now, as 11 members of the NDA —including nine from the BJP— have won, the NDA’s numbers are effectively 124 and well past the majority-mark.