Even with Akali Dal out, Rajya Sabha will see BJP dominance

By Anindya Banerjee New Delhi, Oct 21 : While the polity is fixated on the Bihar Assembly elections and the Congress-ruled states have taken it upon themselves to attempt undoing the Centre’s agri bills, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is slowly inching towards its goal of getting a majority — an achievable 123 seats — in the Rajya Sabha, where many crucial Bills faced stiff resistance from the opposition, unlike in Lok Sabha.
With a win in the by-election to a seat from Uttar Pradesh last month and polling for more seats from the state scheduled to take place in November, the NDA will bolster its arithmetic towards that goal while making the BJP itself more powerful than ever before.
As of today, the saffron party has 86 members in the Rajya Sabha. After the Rajya Sabha election to 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand next month, the BJP’s tally is set to climb to at least 94 or even 95.
The BJP has 305 members in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, and is sure to get eight of its candidates elected, on its own strength.
The Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) had fought alongside the saffron party in the 2017 state polls, and had bagged four seats back then. But, it later parted ways with the BJP. However, the BJP still has another existing ally – Apna Dal (Sonelal) – which won 9 seats. These 9 seats may help BJP aim for the ninth seat as well.
Meanwhile, the BJP is poised to snatch the single Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarkhand too.