Nitish's exit upsets BJP's numbers in RS, but NDA's friends YSR Congress and BJD to help

The exit of JD(U) from the NDA has taken away the Narendra Modi government’s cushion in Rajya Sabha with the Opposition closing in but NDA-friendly parties like YSR Congress and BJD could still bail it out in difficult circumstances.

The JD(U) exit has also created a question mark on the future of Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who belongs to the JD(U). Both JD(U) and Harivansh have not clarified their stand on continuance in the post, which he won as an NDA candidate though some non-NDA parties had also supported him.

Sources said the Opposition would weigh the situation before taking a call on the issue, as leaving the post would mean that the BJP could put its own man in the post.

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With five JD(U) MPs joining the Opposition bandwagon after Nitish Kumar pulled the plug on the NDA government in Bihar, the Modi government’s number in Rajya Sabha has come down to 109 while the Opposition now has 107 lawmakers on their side.

The halfway mark in Rajya Sabha is 119 as there are 237 MPs in the House while there are eight vacancies, including that of three nominated.

However, this deficit is not likely to give much headache to the ruling dispensation, thanks to NDA-friendly parties like the YSR Congress and BJD though the BJP is trying to carve a niche for itself in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Nine MPs each of YSR Congress and BJD had been supporting the NDA at crucial junctures though they had occasionally broken ranks. To this, parties like BSP, TDP and JD(S) with one MP each may also support the NDA given that these three parties announced support for the BJP candidates in the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections.

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Earlier, TRS with seven MPs also used to be an occasional supporter but with the BJP seeking to expand its net in Telangana, the relationship has soured.

The ruling side has 10 parties on its side – BJP alone has 91 MPs, which includes four nominated MPs who joined the party, while its Tamil Nadu ally AIADMK has four MPs. It also has the support of five nominated MPs, who haven’t joined the BJP, besides a clutch of parties from the north-east and Tamil Nadu besides an independent.

In the Opposition ranks, there are 17 parties – Congress is the topper with 31 MPs followed by Trinamool Congress (13), DMK (10), AAP (10), TRS (7), RJD (6), JD-U (5), CPI-M (5), NCP (4), SP (4), Shiv Sena (3), CPI (2) and JMM (2) among others. It also has the support of one each MPs of RLD, MDMK, Kerala Congress and Muslim League besides two independents.