Despite the staggering victory in the Rajya Sabha polls, results of which were announced on Monday, the BJP is still 31 short of the absolute majority. Even with the NDA allies, it's tally stands at 98, which means it is still 25 short of the majority mark. The halfway mark in Rajya Sabha is 123.
But the biggest gain for the BJP is that the strength of the Congress has fallen below 40. Now its strength is 38 only. This effectively means that the Congress will no longer be able to set the agenda in the Rajya Sabha and block the bills. The BJP hopes to win another seat from Karnataka and take its tally to 93 by the end of the winter session.
The BJP has JDU (5 seats), Ramdas Athawale of RPI in its fold. Besides, nine MPs of AIADMK and some parties from the North East, taking its support base to 110. In the recent times, the BJP has lost Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena, which together have three seats each. Both the parties walked out of the NDA. As a result, it still needs 13 seats to get its bills passed.
But the biggest gain for the BJP is that the strength of the Congress has fallen below 40. Now its strength is 38 only. This effectively means that the Congress will no longer be able to set the agenda in the Rajya Sabha and block the bills. The BJP hopes to win another seat from Karnataka and take its tally to 93 by the end of the winter session.
The BJP has JDU (5 seats), Ramdas Athawale of RPI in its fold. Besides, nine MPs of AIADMK and some parties from the North East, taking its support base to 110. In the recent times, the BJP has lost Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena, which together have three seats each. Both the parties walked out of the NDA. As a result, it still needs 13 seats to get its bills passed.