New Delhi:
After a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the NDA is now eyeing majority in Rajya Sabha. According to a projection by an independent research agency, the BJP-led NDA could achieve the crucial majority in the Upper House of Parliament if some small regional parties join the bloc that recently won a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha.
According to the PRS Legislative Research, which tracks the functioning of India`s parliament, the BJP alone could secure 83 seats (currently 73) in the Rajya Sabha by next year.
The PRS also predicted that the NDA could secure 107 seats, seven more than its current tally and just 15 short of a majority in the 243-member House.
The NDA is likely to get the required numbers from states like Uttar Pradesh where the BJP won in the 2017 assembly elections.
The PRS projection also shows that to get to the 122 seats needed for a majority, the NDA could need the support of regional parties from eastern and southern India. Some of the key parties have supported the NDA in the past.
"There are several unfinished items from the first term because the NDA did not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha, and we are looking forward to the time when some of these items can get passed and legislated," News18 quoted BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda as saying.
Interestingly, the Congress, on the other hand, could lose 12 seats in Rajya Sabha by 2020, bringing its total tally down to 38.
Assembly polls are due in some states like Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand later this year and the BJP's show in the Rajya Sabha polls, slated for 2020, will depend on its numbers garnered in these state elections.
BJP's floor managers in the Upper House are confident of putting up a good show in the Assembly polls, going by the party's huge victory in the Lok Sabha polls in these states and are confident of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) crossing the majority mark of 124 in the Rajya Sabha.
The saffron party is currently in power in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand.
As many as 10 Rajya Sabha seats will fall vacant in Uttar Pradesh in 2020 and the BJP's huge majority in the state means it can win nine of those.
If the number of seats its allies like the JD(U) in Bihar, the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra is added, the ruling alliance may cross the majority mark of 124 seats in 2021.
Many non-NDA, non-UPA parties like the BJD, the TRS and the YSRCP have supported the ruling dispensation on several crucial bills.
The majority in the Upper House will be a big boost for the Narendra Modi-led government as its contentious bills to abolish "triple talaq" and amend the Citizenship Act got stuck in the Rajya Sabha.
Rajya Sabha members are elected by a method of indirect election. They are elected by the members of the legislative assembly of that state in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
(With PTI inputs)
