BJP set to gain one seat in upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, BSP may draw blank

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has 116 MPs in Rajya Sabha is all set to gain a seat in the Upper House where it is already the single largest party. The Election Commission of India on Tuesday announced the schedule for biennial elections to fill 10 vacancies from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand. It will also hold a by-poll for a single seat in West Bengal. All elections will be held on October 16.

BJP projected to win eight UP seats

Of the 10 seats going to the polls on October 16, the BJP is expected to win 8 and the Samajwadi Party, 2 (a gain of one seat). The BJP is also comfortably placed to win the seats from Uttarakhand which will fall vacant after the completion of Naresh Bansal’s term on November 25 and West Bengal, which fell vacant on the resignation of TMC’s Rukmini Mallick in July.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that has a single member will not have any representation in the upper House after the elections.

Also read: Rajya Sabha polls: EC announces October 16 voting for 11 seats in UP, Uttarakhand; Bengal bypoll

Nine UP seats to see incumbents retire

Nine seats in Uttar Pradesh will fall vacant when the terms of the incumbents end on November 25; a tenth, is already vacant, after the resignation of Dinesh Sharma on September 11, after he was appointed L-G, Andaman and Nicobar. His term too was to end on November 25. The nine seats are currently held by Arun Singh, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Neeraj Shekhar, Brijlal, BL Verma, Seema, and Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, all from the BJP; Ram Gopal Yadav from the SP; and Ramji from the BSP.

While the SP which has 101 MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh assembly is positioned to win two seats, the BSP, with no MLAs will no longer have a single member in the upper House. This will be the first time since the 1994 debut of the party that it will have no presence in the Rajya Sabha.

Also read: ‘Am I not a citizen’: Sibal hits out at ECI over SIR notice; BJP responds

BJP set to gain from Bengal vacancy

The BJP’s tally will increase by one as the party will win the West Bengal seat which has been vacated by Mallik who was sent to the Upper House by the TMC. The BJP-led NDA’s tally strength in the house is expected to be 154.

With elections in Uttar Pradesh scheduled for next year all eyes are now on the candidates that the BJP  will pick for the upper House. Given the importance of caste in the state, the party’s representation of various castes will be keenly scrutinised. A party leader speaking on condition of anonymity said it is likely that the ruling party will not repeat any of the retiring members.