BJP Touches 100 Mark In Rajya Sabha, A First For A Party Since 1990

The BJP has touched the 100 mark in the upper house of parliament, becoming the first party to do so since 1990. The party won three more seats in the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha -- one each from Assam, Tripura and Nagaland in the elections held on Thursday.

The BJP currently has 101 MPs in the Upper House -- a first in the party's history that is expected to give a psychological advantage in passing of bills. When it first came to power in 2014, the party had just 55 seats.

The Rajya Sabha has 245 members, the majority mark stands at 123.

The rise in BJP numbers has corresponded with a decline in Congress numbers as the opposition party lost a string of assembly polls since 2014. The party currently has 30 MPs in the upper house -- its latest defeat in Punjab contributing to the slide.

Any further drop in numbers will lead to the party's losing the status of Leader of Opposition in the Upper House.

Elections are due later this year in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and next year in Karnataka -- which will give both the BJP and the Congress an opportunity to shore up their numbers.

Besides, 72 Rajya Sabha members are due to retire over the next few months, which might give the Congress a chance to scrape up a few more seats.

While the BJP's movement towards a majority in the upper house gives it a psychological advantage, in practical terms it may not make much difference where passage of bills are concerned. Over the last couple of years, the NDA has managed to push through key bills -- including the the triple talaq bill and the bill to repeal Article 370 -- with the help of neutral parties like Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal, Jagan Reddy's YSR Congress and even the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.

The renewed strength, however, will give the BJP an opportunity to get its own nominees elected for the posts of President and Vice President, for which the elections are due later this year.

Six newly-elected Rajya Sabha MPs took oath as members of the Upper House on Monday. Two of them were from the BJP -- S Phangnon Konyak from Nagaland and Pabitra Margherita from Assam. One MP from the Congress, one from the CPI, and one from the CPM also took oath.

Besides, the BJP's Dr Sikandar Kumar was elected unopposed from Himachal Pradesh, S Phangnon Konyak from Nagaland and Manik Saha from Tripura.