The NDA has lost its magic number of majority in the Rajya Sabha due to the retirement of many MPs. Several recent nominees, namely Rakesh Sinha, Ram Sakal, Sonal Mansingh, and Mahesh Jethmalani, have completed their terms and are now retiring. The retirement of these MPs has reduced the BJP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha to 86 and the overall strength of the National Democratic Alliance to This is below the current majority limit of 113 required for a majority in the 245-member Rajya Sabha.
The Congress-led India Block has 87 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress has 26 MPs, the ruling Trinamool Congress has 13 MPs and the Aam Aadmi Party and DMK have 10 MPs each. Parties that are not in alliance with the BJP or the Congress – such as former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s BRS – nominated MPs and independents hold the remaining seats. This means the government now relies on non-NDA parties – such as Tamil Nadu’s AIADMK and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party – to pass bills in the upper house.YSRCP has 11 and AIADMK four MPs in the Rajya Sabha. Former Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s BJD has also supported the BJP in the past, but the party’s MPs may not support the BJP in the Rajya Sabha after the BJP defeated the BJD in the May-June Assembly elections. The BJD has nine MPs in the Rajya Sabha. However, much depends on how many of the 20 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha the BJP can retain.
