Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman election: The number game and what it looks like

New Delhi, Aug 9: It would be a fight between the NDA's Harivansh and Congress's B K Hariprasad. Elections to the post of Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, which is being held after 20 years, will take place today.

Going by the current numbers, the NDA seems to be comfortably perched. With parties such as the TRS, AIADMK and BJD deciding to back Harivansh of the JD(U), the NDA appears to be sailing through with ease. The fact that the Shiv Sena too has decided to back Harivansh has made it easier for the NDA.

The magic number is 122, provided all members are present in the 245 member house. One seat is however vacant. The NDA currently has 93 members. With the backing of the AIADMK, BJD and TRS, its strength goes up to 121, still one short of the magic number. However the NDA is expecting that some members may abstain, bringing the strength of the House down.

Only 3 out of the 4 DMK members may be present in the House for voting today. They are away in Chennai owing to the demise of their leader, M Karunanidhi. Further parties such as the AAP and YSRCP are also likely to abstain and this would bring down the number further.

The UPA on the other hand has 112 MPs. It would need the support of the 14 undecided MPs from the AAP, PDP, INLD, YSRCP and Independents to put up a fight. The YSRCP with 2 MPs is most likely to abstain, thus bringing down this tally down to 12. The AAP on the other hand has indicated that it would back the Congress provided it is asked to.

Do check out the table below: