Senior BJP leaders and Ministers in the Union Cabinet like Arun Jaitley and Ravishankar Prasad have been in touch with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in recent days, party sources here said.
When Ms. Jayalalithaa visits the capital next week to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she will have further discussion with these leaders. With only 64 of the 240 members in the Rajya Sabha (there are five vacancies), the BJP-led NDA government is short of a simple majority in the Upper House that is essential for passing of Bills. With the odds in the RS to remain stacked against the NDA in the foreseeable future, the government is looking for partnerships with regional parties though it has a clear a majority in the Lower House.
Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, who took charge on Friday, expressed the hope that all parties would cooperate in the Rajya Sabha.
“I am hopeful that all parties will definitely cooperate with our programme in the national interest... We want to take everybody along and we are confident that Parliament proceedings will be smooth” Mr. Javadekar said.
