NEW DELHI: The BJP-led NDA has moved closer to consolidating its position in the Rajya Sabha after winning 19 of the 26 seats decided in the latest round of elections. The Congress-led INDIA bloc secured six seats, while Mizoram’s Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) won one.The latest results have taken the NDA’s strength in the Rajya Sabha to 150 members, up from 148 earlier. The alliance is now 13 seats short of the two-thirds majority mark of 163 in the 245-member House.The NDA’s gains came after NDA-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani pulled off a surprise victory in Jharkhand with the help of cross-voting. Nathwani won one of the state’s two Rajya Sabha seats despite the INDIA bloc holding a comfortable majority in the state assembly. The other seat was won by JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram.In Mizoram, ruling ZPM candidate K Laltluangkima won the lone Rajya Sabha seat, giving the regional party its first-ever representation in the Upper House.Most of the seats had already been decided on June 11, when 24 candidates from eight states were elected unopposed. Of these, 19 belonged to the NDA and five to the Congress-led opposition.
How the numbers stack up
The latest elections have strengthened the NDA’s position in the Rajya Sabha at a time when several opposition parties are facing internal turmoil.According to PTI sources, the resignation of three Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MPs, after major rupture in Mamata Banerjee’s party, has opened the door for the NDA to make further gains. If the ruling NDA alliance wins all three resulting bypolls in West Bengal, its tally will rise from 150 to 153, leaving it just 10 seats short of the two-thirds mark.Weeks ago, the NDA’s strength in the Rajya Sabha received a major boost after a split in the AAP, with Raghav Chadha leading a rebellion against Arvind Kejriwal’s leadership and bringing seven Upper House MPs into the NDA fold.These developments have reduced the effective strength of the INDIA bloc in the Upper House. The opposition alliance currently has around 64 MPs, while several regional parties continue to hold the balance of power.However, the NDA’s path to a two-thirds majority is not guaranteed. Later this year, the terms of 10 Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh will end, and the Samajwadi Party could gain seats because of its improved strength in the state assembly.Regional parties such as YSRCP and BJD, with seven and six MPs respectively, could also play a key role in future voting on major legislation.For the NDA, the immediate focus remains the Rajya Sabha. While it is inching closer to the numbers needed to comfortably pass constitutional amendment bills in the Upper House, it remains far from the two-thirds majority mark of 363 seats in the Lok Sabha.
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