BJP snatches one Lok Sabha seat from Congress; Maharashtra win boosts Rajya Sabha majority prospects

PTI, Nov 23, 2024, 6:46 PM IST

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday snatched one Lok Sabha seat from the Congress, lowering the opposition party’s tally to 98, while a runaway victory in Maharashtra will also boost the ruling alliance’s prospects in the Rajya Sabha where the western state sends the second-highest number of members.

The BJP had won 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year. After its win in the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll on Saturday, the party’s tally in the 543-member Lower House has gone up to 241.

The Nanded bypoll was necessitated by the death of Congress MP Vasantrao Chavan on August 26.

The Congress had won 99 seats in the Lok Sabha elections with party leader Rahul Gandhi winning from Rae Bareli and Wayanad. He vacated his Wayanad seat from where his sibling Priyanka Gandhi Vadra won on Saturday.

After winning Wayanad and losing Nanded, the Congress’ tally in the Lok Sabha now stands at 98.

The Basirhat seat in West Bengal is now the lone vacancy in the Lok Sabha.

Trinamool Congress MP SK Nurul Islam died on September 25. However, a bypoll could not be held in the seat as an election petition is pending against Islam in Calcutta High Court.

The BJP-led alliance’s landslide victory in Maharashtra has also boosted its prospects in the Rajya Sabha and could help it get a majority in the Upper House.

Maharashtra sends 19 members to the Rajya Sabha.

At present, the BJP has seven members in the Upper House while the Congress has three, Shiv Sena one, Shiv Sena (UBT) two, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) three, NCP (Sharad Pawar) two, and the Republican Party of India (Athawale) one.

The BJP has 95 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. With it allies, the tally goes up to 112. Besides, there are six nominated members who support the ruling party.

The highest number of MPs in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha come from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra.

While there are no immediate vacancies from Maharashtra, the Upper House has 10 vacancies from various other states, of which more than half are likely to go to the BJP. There are also four vacancies for nominated members.

This will easily push the BJP-led alliance past the halfway mark in the 245-member House.