With the BJP’s ranks in the Rajya Sabha, where it lacks majority, set to swell next month, it will provide some relief to the ruling party that has had to do with odds heavily stacked against it in the Upper House so far. The main Opposition party Congress will be the biggest loser in the biennial elections to 57 seats next month but it will still remain the largest party.
Notwithstanding its increase in numbers, it may not be enough for the passage of key GST Bill in the Monsoon Session. In the current 245-member Upper House, Congress has 64 seats and BJP 49.
While 14 members each of Congress and BJP are retiring, the ruling party can win 17-18 seats due to its increased numbers in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Jharkhand Assemblies while the Opposition party is unlikely to secure more than 8-9 seats. The BJP had recently got a boost with the nomination of six new members by the Government.
Meanwhile, Chairman Hamid Ansari accepted the resignation of Pranav Pandya who was nominated to the Upper House by the President. Pandya, the head of All World Gayatri Parivar, was nominated to Rajya Sabha on May 4 but he turned it down.
BJP’s ally TDP is expected to do well in Andhra, which will have four vacancies, while AIADMK, seen to be more friendly to BJP, will bag most of the six seats facing polls.