NEW DELHI: The BJP-led NDA on Tuesday touched the majority mark in the Rajya Sabha with nine BJP nominees, including two Union ministers, and two members of its allies being elected unopposed in the by-polls from various states including Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra. One seat went to the Congress.
With it, the NDA reached the majority mark of 112 in the Upper House ahead of the winter session in which many crucial bills are expected to be moved.
The Rajya Sabha has 245 seats, though currently there are eight vacancies — four from Jammu and Kashmir and four nominated. With the house’s current strength of 237, the majority mark is 119. The NDA also has the support of six nominated members and one independent.
Former HRD minister, Upendra Kushwaha and BJP nominee Manan Kumar Mishra were elected unopposed from the state. Kushwaha heads the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) and joined the NDA during the last general election. He is considered a prominent leader of his community which has a significant population in the state and plays a significant role in assembly elections. He belongs to Vaishali district.
“I am honoured to enter Rajya Sabha once again. My party and I will work tirelessly to fulfill the dreams of PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar to make the country a developed nation and Bihar a developed state,” Kushwaha told this newspaper.
BJP’s Manan Kumar Mishra is a prominent Supreme Court lawyer. Another party nominee, Kiran Choudhary, too was elected unopposed from Haryana. Choudhary, a former Haryana minister, recently joined the BJP. Four JJP rebel MLAs of Dushyant Chautala also extended their support to her candidature.
Union minister George Kurian is joining the RS from Madhya Pradesh. His election came after the seat became vacant following Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s election to the Lok Sabha.
Other BJP candidates elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha are Ravneet Singh Bittu (MoS Railways) from Rajasthan, Rajeev Bhattacharya from Tripura, Mamata Mohanta from Odisha, Rameshwar Teli from Assam, Mission Ranjan Dass from Assam and Dhirya Sheel Patil from Maharashtra.
Congress candidate and prominent senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhavi has also been elected unopposed from Telangana and NCP Ajit Pawar faction’s Nitin Patil from Maharashtra.
MoS Railway Ravneet Singh Bittu was elected unopposed from Rajasthan in a bypoll necessitated after the resignation of Congress’ KV Venugopal.
Most of those elected unopposed are new entrants — Mamata Mohanta, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Kiren Choudhary, George Kurian and Abhishek Manu Singhavi.
Earlier, Opposition numbers often stalled contentious government bills in the RS. Some of them could be passed with the help of non-aligned parties like Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal and YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress. Now, with both parties losing power in their respective states, their support cannot be counted on.