Upper hand in Upper House

With NDA close to a majority in Rajya Sabha, India enters a critical phase of democracy

In India’s democracy, the Rajya Sabha’s role is clear. As the permanent House constituted according to the relative strengths of political parties in states, the Council of States acts as a legislative check on the directly elected Lok Sabha and a forum for discussing diverse points of view. Even if a party holds a brute majority in the Lower House as a result of superlative performance in the general elections, its legislative agenda remains subject to deliberation and compromise until it attains a majority in the Upper House.

For some time, it has been clear that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was on its way to gaining a majority on its own in both chambers of Parliament, on the back of its consecutive victories in the Lok Sabha, and consistent performances in state elections – despite some setbacks in the south and east. In contrast, the Opposition space was in greater disarray, with the Congress having fallen to less than half of its tally in 2014, and performing poorly in the state polls. This meant that the Congress was no longer the natural leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, with parties such as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) attempting to carve out a distinct role. The elections to 13 seats in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday reinforce the same pattern. The Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) gained four seats while the Congress was likely to win only one. A key victor was the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which won all five seats in Punjab on the back of its landslide assembly poll victory and which is now expected to stake a stronger claim to the national Opposition mantle. The AAP will now have eight members in the Upper House. Expect a more strident line, especially when the AAP is on a warpath over the proposed unification of municipalities in Delhi.

With these elections, the BJP crosses 100 seats in the Rajya Sabha for the first time in its history. The NDA is now within striking distance of the majority mark of 123 – though as key legislation such as the triple talaq bill or nullification of Article 370 showed, it is adept at manoeuvring friendly non-nda parties to its advantage. But this hegemonic status also raises questions about the quality of scrutiny key bills will receive, and whether the Opposition can remain an effective check on the government. Not since the Congress’s heyday has one party dominated both Houses of Parliament. India’s democracy is entering a critical phase.