BJP makes history, overtakes Congress to become largest party in Rajya Sabha

The NDA's current strength in the Rajya Sabha is 77 as opposed to the 84 held by the UPA.

By Vicky

Updated: Friday, August 4, 2017, 11:38 [IST]

The BJP with 58 members has now overtaken the Congress as the largest political party in the Rajya Sabha. The Congress has 57 members in the upper house of Parliament.

The NDA's current strength in the Rajya Sabha is 77 as opposed to the 84 held by the UPA.

The BJP overtook the Congress with the election of Samapatiya Uikey. She was elected to the upper house of Parliament following a by-election in Madhya Pradesh. This seat was held by Anil Madhav Dave who passed away recently. She took oath on Thursday.

Rajya Sabha strength

Slno	Party	Strength
1	Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP )	58
2	Indian National Congress (INC )	57
3	Samajwadi Party (SP )	18
4	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK )	13
5	ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS (AITC )	12
6	Janata Dal (United) (JD(U) )	10
7	Biju Janata Dal (BJD )	8
8	Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M) )	8
9	Nominated (NOM. )	8
10	Telugu Desam Party (TDP )	6
11	Independent & Others (IND. )	6
12	Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP )	5
13	Nationalist Congress Party (NCP )	5
14	Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK )	4
15	Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS )	3
16	Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD )	3
17	Shiv Sena (SS )	3
18	Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD )	3
19	J&K Peoples Democratic Party (J&K PDP )	2
20	Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S) )	1
21	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM )	1
22	Kerala Congress (M) (KC(M) )	1
23	Indian National Lok Dal s(INLD)	1
24	Indian Union Muslim League (IUML )	1
25	Communist Party of India (CPI )	1
26	Bodoland People's Front (BPF )	1
27	Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF )	1
28	Republican Party of India (A) (RPI(A) )	1
29	Naga Peoples Front (NPF )	1
30	Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP )	1
	Vacancies: Total:	2 245

The BJP-led government is still short of a majority in the 245 seat house. The Congress would have remained the largest part in the upper house till 2018. However its numbers dropped with the death of two of its lawmakers.

On Tuesday the elections will be held for nine seats, six in West Bengal and three in Gujarat. These elections may not affect the BJP's lead. The party is set to win at least two seats in Gujarat. In West Bengal, the Congress has a chance of winning one seat while the TMC will send 5 of its lawmakers to the Rajya Sabha. The BJP however will increase its tally further when it wins 8 out of the 9 seats from Uttar Pradesh next year.

The NDA's current strength in the Rajya Sabha is 77 as opposed to the 84 held by the UPA. The JD(U) which recently joined the NDA has ten MPs. This would mean that the strength of the NDA goes up to 87. However it is yet to be seen whether some members of the Sharad Yadav group who have expressed reservations with the new alliance will join the NDA in the Rajya Sabha.

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