The BJP, which retained one out of the three seats in the Lok Sabha bypolls, has a wafer-thin majority now with its effective strength standing at 272 in the 539-member House excluding the Speaker.
The Lok Sabha has 543 elected members but its four seats are unrepresented . While three MPs from Karnataka resigned, the Anantnag seat in Kashmir is lying vacant after the bypoll was deferred indefinitely in May 2017. It brings the majority mark down to 270.
However, for all practical purposes the BJP’s strength is 274 as two nominated members also belong to it. Counting them, the BJP has three members more than the 271 it needs to have a majority in 541-member House.
Due to losses in a number of bypolls, including in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP’s strength has come down in the Lok Sabha from 282 seats it won in the 2014 general elections.
However, it makes little difference to the government as the BJP-led NDA has around 315 seats.
Bypolls to four Lok Sabha seats were held on May 28. The BJP had won three of them in the 2014 general elections but could manage to retain only one, losing one each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
