No, the BJP has not been reduced to a minority in Parliament

Following the resignations of B S Yeddyurappa and B Sriramulu as Members of Parliament, the Congress social media circulated a post claiming that the BJP has only 217 members, one less than the required for a simple majority. The post claims that the BJP has fallen below the magic number of 272.

While the resignations of the two leaders who were elected MLAs in the Karnataka polls has been accepted, the Lok Sabha website until 7.15 am still showed them as MPs.

Assuming that the Lok Sabha would update the numbers, the BJP still has 272 as Sumitra Mahajan the Speaker of the House is a BJP MP. The Speaker does not cast his or her vote in a trust vote, but exercise her franchise in case of a tie in the 543 member house.

The BJP since it came to power in 2014 has seen a drop in its numbers. It was at 282 in 2014, but the numbers have come down after it lost the by-polls at Ajmer and Alwar in Rajasthan, Gorakhpur and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, Gurdaspur in Punjab, Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh. It however won the by-polls at Lakhimpur, Shahdol, Beed, Kandhamal and Vadodara.

In the immediate future there would be four by-elections which will be held at Kairana in UP, Palghar and Bhandara in Maharashtra and one in Nagaland. The BJP would however not be reduced to a minority even if it were to lose the by-elections. It has the support of its allies- Lok Jan Shakti Party, Shiromani Akali Dal and JD(U) which account for 12 seats.