The BJP's historic victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections will help the saffron party to further consolidate its position in the Parliament as the party will be able to send more members to the Rajya Sabha next year.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) currently has 56 seats in the Rajya Sabha, behind Congress party’s 59 members.
The BJP’s tally in the 243-member house is likely to go up to 68 when the elections are held in June next year, while the Congress’ tally may come down to 51.
Uttar Pradesh sends the largest 31 members to the Rajya Sabha. However, BJP's increased strength will only be reflected in biennial elections in June next year when there will be 11 vacancies from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
In 2017, there will be only 10 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha, of which six are from West Bengal where BJP does not have enough strength in the Assembly.
68 seats of Rajya Sabha will go to polls in 2018, 10 of which are in UP.
The BJP has secured a landslide victory in UP Assembly elections by winning 312 of 403 seats while it won 57 of 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly.
The BJP's performance in these two states will boost its numbers in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP-led NDA lacks a majority.
Despite a potential rise in BJP’s numbers in the Rajya Sabha, NDA will not have majority in the Upper House and will not help of other parties, like the AIADMK and the BJD, to get legislations passed.
However, the prospects of getting a legislation passed will be higher as the party will need less support from outside than it needed before.
Former Finance Minister and Congress Rajya Sabha MP P. Chidambaram said a majority there will make it possible for the NDA government to start radical reforms during its remaining term to accelerate the economic growth, the Congress leader said.
Stating that the BJP tally in Rajya Sabha will increase, he said the government will enjoy a majority in both houses which will enable it to "pass virtually any Bill" as the political obstacles go off.
This climate will help accelerate the GDP growth to 8 per cent, which is a prerequisite to make India a prosperous and rich society, he said adding the current 7 per cent expansion does not help create new jobs.
