BJP's tally in the Rajya Sabha has dipped below 90 for the first time in many years but the ruling party at Centre with its NDA partners is looking forward to gain berths in the Upper House by-elections to fill the existing vacancies in forthcoming weeks.
The current strength of the Rajya Sabha is 226 with the BJP having 86 followed by 26 of the Congress and 13 of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). There are currently 19 vacancies.
Interestingly, after a decade without a Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha due to a shortage of numbers, this position has now been filled with the appointment of Rahul Gandhi, as the party improved its score in the recently concluded general elections. The Rajya Sabha is heading in a similar direction, with the Congress struggling to maintain the numbers necessary to keep the status of LoP for its party chief, Mallikarjun Kharge.
After the election of party leaders KC Venugopal and Deepender Singh Hooda to the Lok Sabha and their subsequent resignation from the Rajya Sabha, the Congress strength in the Upper House too has come down to 26, just one more than the minimum 25 members required to qualify for the post.
For this grand old party strategically made its old timer Kesava Rao to quit the RS berth from the BRS party who joined Congress last week which is the party’s plan to improve its tally in the Upper House to retain the post of LoP for incumbent Kharge. This has caused a vacancy from Telangana, which will be filled up by the Congress given its numbers in the State Assembly.
According to sources, Congress is trying to get more members from other parties from Telangana and Karnataka to resign and get them elected on its ticket.
While the BJP-led NDA is confident of winning two seats each in Bihar, Maharashtra and Assam and one each in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tripura due to their numerical superiority over the Opposition, the four new nominated members are also expected to be pro-treasury benches whenever the Government names them.
Though nominated members are usually independent in the House in terms of their party affiliation, they are traditionally supportive of the agenda of the government which picks them.
The ruling Congress is looking to win the lone seat in Telangana at the expense of the BRS but its gain will be negated in Rajasthan where the BJP, which has a strong majority, will claim the seat vacated by K C Venugopal of Congress who is now in Lok Sabha.
BJP is also confident of winning the lone seat in Haryana where the poll will be held to fill the vacancy caused by the election of its Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda to Lok Sabha.
Congress, though, hopes that a few MLAs, who are either independent or affiliated to the regional parties and are looking for political alternatives ahead of the assembly polls expected in October, may switch sides and help it make a fight.
The Election Commission (EC) is yet to announce the date for elections to fill the 11 vacancies effected by the resignation of as many members. Ten of them were elected to Lok Sabha while one MP, K Keshava Rao of the BRS, quit after joining the Congress.
Out of the total 19 vacancies in the 245-member Rajya Sabha, four are from Jammu and Kashmir where there is no assembly currently after the erstwhile state was made a Union Territory in 2019.
