BJP Will have to Wait a Year For rs MaJoritY

Next year, as many as 69 members will retire, out of which 30 are from BJP-ruled states.

many as 69 members will retire, out of which 30 are from BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. BJP is expected to improve its tally in these states, which were earlier with non-BJP parties, like UP, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana, but which are now ruled by the BJP. UP and Uttarakhand alone will report 11 vacancies next year. The other states which will report vacancies next year include Delhi, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Odisha and Telangana.

Apart from 30 members from the BJP ruling states, four nominated members, including film actress Rekha and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, are also going to retire next year.

The President of India nominates members on recommendation of the government.

Though the nominated members are not bound by whip of the ruling party, they generally vote alongside the treasury benches in the Upper House. Though the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will not have the majority mark of 123, even after the vacancies are filled up in 2018, it will be very close to the figure, making it easier for getting the required numbers from regional players like AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

The BJP is upbeat after its impressive victories in UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.

Punjab, where Congress has formed the government, will not have any vacancy till 2019, and therefore, will not affect the arithmetic within the Rajya Sabha during the current NDA regime.

Rajya Sabha MPs are elected on the basis of an electoral college comprising MLAs of the state Assemblies and Union Territories in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The number of MPs a party can send to the Rajya Sabha depends on how many MLAs the party has in the state Assemblies.