Will the mathematics of Rajya Sabha change after July 24, paving the way for many big bills from women’s reservation to delimitation for BJP?

BJP’s strength in Rajya Sabha will increase in the monsoon session of Parliament starting from July 20. This strength of BJP in Rajya Sabha will help in passing important bills. After July 24, BJP’s strength in Rajya Sabha will be 117, which is the highest number till date in its history. In such a situation, BJP on its own will remain only six away from simple majority i.e. 123 in Rajya Sabha. If we add seven nominated candidates and three independents Parimal Nathwani, Dilip Ray and Karthikeya Sharma, then BJP crosses the simple majority mark and reaches 127. With allies this number is approaching the two-thirds figure i.e. 164.

BJP’s allies include four MPs each from TDP, AIADMK, JDU and NCP, two each from Shiv Sena and UPPL, one MP each from RPI-A, AGP, MNF, NPP, RLM and Janasena Party. That means the number of allies of BJP is 26. In this way the NDA figure has reached 153, which is only 11 less than the two-thirds figure.

Reason for BJP’s recent increase in strength

The reason for BJP’s recent increase in strength is three former Rajya Sabha MPs of TMC, Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik, who are now members of BJP. All three joined BJP on Thursday evening, shortly after which BJP announced them as its candidates in the by-elections to be held on July 24 for three Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal. These three seats had become vacant due to their resignation, hence their victory is now just a formality.

Government is trying to pass these bills

Now the bills which the government will try to pass in the upcoming monsoon session include the Constitution Amendment Bill related to women’s reservation and delimitation. Under this, a provision to increase the seats of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies by 50 percent can be made in the bill itself. The second bill is the Constitution Amendment Bill to snatch the chair of PM, CM and Minister from jail for more than 30 days, on which the JPC is going to submit its report soon.

Apart from these, the government is also preparing to bring bills like FCRA Bill, Vikas Bharat Education Foundation Bill, Anti-Doping Bill, Bill in lieu of Ordinance to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court, Code on Wages Central Rules, Corporate Law, Securities Market Code in the upcoming session.