The Aam Aadmi Party surprised everyone on Thursday after winning the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections with a thumping majority and made its mark on 92 out of 117 seats. It managed to cut votes from Congress, a party otherwise said to have a stronghold in Punjab. With the landslide victory, AAP is also on its way to becoming the 5th largest party in Rajya Sabha. Currently, the BJP is the single largest party with 97 members. It is followed by Congress (34 members), TMC (13) and DMK (10).
With the kind of majority gained by AAP, it is likely that it will win all five seats about to get vacant in the Rajya Sabha, taking its total in the Upper House to eight. The AAP already has three members - all from Delhi - in Rajya Sabha.
Two different elections for five Rajya Sabha seats are approaching - one for three seats and another for the remaining two. Among the retiring members from Punjab are Partap Singh Bajwa and Samsher Singh Dullo (both Congress), Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Naresh Gujral (both Akali Dal) and Shwait Malik (BJP).
AAP would be the biggest gainer in the Upper House. If it wins on all five seats, its total in the Upper House would be eight, making it the fifth largest party in Rajya Sabha.
Two more members - Balwinder Singh Bhunder (Akali Dal) and Ambika Soni (Congress) - from the state will complete their tenure in July and the AAP may bag both.
Elections for 13 Rajya Sabha seats are set to be held on March 31, while 20 more seats are set to fall vacant in June, followed by 33 in July and two in August.
With the AAP declaring Bhagwant Mann, who is a Lok Sabha member from Sangrur, as its chief ministerial candidate, the party is set to lose representation in the lower house. Mann is the lone AAP member in Lok Sabha.
