Rajya Sabha bypolls: NDA reaches majority mark after BJP wins 9 seats, allies 2

The NDA on Tuesday (August 27) reached the majority mark in the Rajya Sabha with the BJP winning nine seats and its allies two in the by-elections to 12 seats.

All the candidates were elected unopposed.

BJP wins 9 seats, Congress 1

The newly-elected BJP members are Mission Ranjan Dass and Rameshwar Teli from Assam, Manan Kumar Mishra from Bihar, Kiran Choudhury from Haryana, Dhirya Sheel Patil from Maharashtra, Mamata Mohanta from Odisha, Rajeev Bhattacharjee from Tripura and Union ministers George Kurien and Raveneet Singh Bittu from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively.

Nitin Patil from NCP’s Ajit Pawar faction won from Maharashtra while Rashtriya Lok Manch’s Upendra Kushwaha won from Bihar.

The Congress only saw Abhishek Manu Singhvi winning from Telangana, raising INDIA bloc's combined strength in the Rajya Sabha to 85.

From 26 seats earlier, the Congress now has 27, which is just two more than the minimum number needed for the Leader of Opposition (LoP) post.

NDA’s tally up to 119

The latest wins have raised the BJP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha from 87 to 96, upping the tally of the NDA coalition to 119. This will ease the path of the NDA in passing bills in the house and it will not have to take the support of allies to back it in passing the legislations.

This is also the first time since 2014 that the NDA has hit the majority mark in Rajya Sabha.

While the Upper House of the Parliament has 245 seats, its current strength is 237 due to eight vacancies – four in Jammu and Kashmir and four in nominated category. This puts the majority mark at 119.

The BJP's allies in the Upper House include JD(U), NCP, JD(S), RPI(A), Shiv Sena, RLD, RLM, NPP, PMK, Taamil Manila Congress and UPPL.

Bypolls for 12 seats

Bypolls were announced on 12 seats that fell vacant as the sitting members, including Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal and Jyotiraditya Scindia, were elected to Lok Sabha recently.

Four candidates — the BJP's Dhairyasheel Patil and NCP's Nitin Patil (both from Maharashtra), and Rameswar Teli and Mission Ranjan Das (both of BJP from Assam) — were declared winners on Monday.