Success in the Lok Sabha has imperiled the Opposition’s equation in the Rajya Sabha, with the Congress narrowly saving the post of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) after two of its members K.C. Venugopal and Deepender Hooda’s election to the Lower House.
A total of 10 vacancies, two each from Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra and one each from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Tripura have arisen following victory of Rajya Sabha members in the Lok Sabha elections. Seven of these MPs are from the BJP, two from the Congress and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal. While the BJP will retain all the seven positions, it will gain three additional seats from the Congress and the RJD.
Single largest party
As per the current statistical position, the BJP with 90 members is the single largest party, followed by the Congress at 26, Trinamool Congress at 13 and YSR Congress at 11. The minimum requirement for any party to hold the Leader of the Opposition post needs to have at least 25 members. Currently, the post is held by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Other than Mr. Venugopal and Mr. Hooda the other members include BJP’s Piyush Goyal, Biplab Kumar Deb, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Vivek Thakur, Sarbananda Sonowal, Kamakhya Prasad Tasa and Udayanraje Bhonsale. With Mr. Goyal’s exit, the BJP will also have to elect a new Leader of the House. RJD leader Misa Bharati winning Pataliputra has also ceased to be a member of the Upper House.
