E-Paper
BJP’s strength in Rajya Sabha rises to 113 with inclusion of seven AAP members
In a post on X, Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan accepted the merger of AAP lawmakers
The Rajya Sabha secretariat on Monday notified the revised strength of parties in the Upper House, showing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s number has increased to 113 with the inclusion of seven of the 10 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members. The strength of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has risen to 148, including five nominated lawmakers, in the 245-member House, bringing it closer to a two-thirds majority.
In a post on X, Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan has accepted the merger of the seven AAP lawmakers. He added that Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta, and Vikramjit Singh Sahney are now members of the BJP parliamentary party.
The Rajya Sabha website showed the seven as BJP members.
Chadha on Friday announced that two-thirds of members of the AAP in the Rajya Sabha were merging with the BJP. Six of the seven members belong to Punjab, where polls are due next year. Only Sanjay Singh, Balbir Singh Seechewal, and ND Gupta remain with the AAP in the Upper House.
Sanjay Singh said the merger is not legal, as the law requires two-thirds of the “original” party to merge. “After consulting constitutional experts and seeking legal opinion from Kapil Sibal, I have sent a petition to the [Rajya Sabha] chairman [CP Radhakrishnan] requesting that the membership of these members be terminated as per the 10th Schedule of the Constitution,” Singh said, referring to the anti-defection law. The law stipulates that two-thirds of the elected members of a party must agree to merge with another to avoid disqualification.
A person aware of the matter said there is still no word on the chairman’s response to Singh’s complaint. “The issue is not time-bound, and it is the chairman’s call…”
By the end of the year, 30 more Rajya Sabha seats will be vacated, and the BJP is hopeful of gaining at least five more. The Congress with 29 members is the second largest party in Rajya Sabha, followed by Trinamool Congress (13), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (8), YSR Congress Party (7), Biju Janata Dal (6), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (5), Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party, and Nationalist Congress Party with four each.
