NDA Secures Majority in Rajya Sabha, Easing Path for Contentious Bills

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has achieved a significant milestone by reaching the majority mark in the Rajya Sabha. This development comes after nine members from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and two from its allies were elected unopposed in the recent by-polls for the upper house. With these additions, the BJP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha has risen to 96, bringing the NDA’s total to 112.

Among those elected unopposed were representatives from the BJP, including Mission Ranjan Dass and Rameshwar Teli from Assam, Manan Kumar Mishra from Bihar, Kiran Chadhary from Haryana, George Kurien from Madhya Pradesh, Dhirya Sheel Patil from Maharashtra, Mamata Mohanta from Odisha, Ravneet Singh Bittu from Rajasthan, and Rajeev Bhattacharjee from Tripura. Additionally, allies such as the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP and Rashtriya Lok Manch (RLM) also secured seats, further bolstering the NDA’s position in the upper house.

With the NDA’s majority, the passage of contentious bills is expected to become smoother. In the past, the government often faced hurdles due to the substantial numbers of the Opposition, which now stands at 85, following the unopposed election of Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi from Telangana.

The Rajya Sabha currently has 245 seats, with eight vacancies—four from Jammu and Kashmir and four nominated positions. The current strength of the house is 237, making the majority mark 119. The ruling alliance also enjoys the support of six nominated members and one independent member, further solidifying its position.

For nearly a decade, the NDA has been striving to achieve a majority in the Rajya Sabha. With this new majority, the ruling alliance is now better positioned to pass significant and potentially contentious legislation without reliance on non-aligned parties like Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress. This shift comes as both parties have recently lost power in their respective states—one to the BJP and the other to its ally Chandrababu Naidu, thereby making their support less certain.