BJP strength may go up, Defections galore continues
Even as the process of Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand and bypolls for 50 Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in states is underway, the Election Commission may also have to hold elections for four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu & kashmir and by-polls for a few other states. These polls may be held after the current round of polling.
The Upper House had an effective strength of 231, with the BJP having 95 members of its own. There are 12 vacancies including Jammu & Kashmir (4), Andhra Pradesh (4), Nominated (4), Odisha (1) and Haryana (1). Two members of the YSRCP and one member of the BJD have quit as Rajya Sabha MPs recently. The BJD member -- Sujeet Kumar -- has since joined the BJP, which is expected to win the bypoll in the state. The two YSRCP members -- M Venkataramana Rao and B Masthan Rao -- quit their membership of the upper house and they are expected to join the TDP, a BJP ally in Andhra Pradesh.
Elections for four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after nearly four years following the swearing-in of the National Conference-led government of Omar Abdullah. The National Conference-Congress is expected to win three Rajya Sabha seats as the strength of alliance including CPI-M, AAP and five Independents have taken the strength to 55. The BJP, which finished second with a best-haul of 29 seats, could get one Rajya Sabha seat.
National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah is likely to be nominated to Rajya Sabha while BJP may send one of its senior leaders to the Upper House. Former Deputy Chief Ministers Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta, who were denied tickets for Assembly polls, are the frontrunners for the BJP's Rajya Sabha nomination.
Lobbying in BJP is on for the one Rajya Sabha seat in Haryana vacated by BJP MP Krishanpal Panwar who became an MLA from Israna Assembly seat.
