The BJP has won both the Rajya Sabha seats from Assam in the by-elections held on Thursday. With this, the BJP has reached 100 in the Rajya Sabha – the first party to do so since 1988.
Twelve opposition MLAs voted for the BJP candidates – six for the Congress and five for the AIUDF. Each winning candidate needs at least 43 votes.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Bishwa Sharma recently said that the Congress did not know that many of its MLAs were going to join the BJP. “Also, candidates are not bound to follow the whip issued by the party in Rajya Sabha elections. With this calculation, we will manage to get both the seats, ”he said.
The BJP has fielded Holy Gogoi Margarita from one seat, while its ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) has fielded Rangoya Narjari from another. Narjari is the president of UPPL, which has seven MLAs in its house.
Former Assam Congress president Ripun Bora was the joint candidate of the opposition parties which they contested.
The ruling NDA has 79 members in the 126-member Assam Assembly – 63 from the BJP, nine from the AGP and seven from the UPPL. The BPF, which has three MLAs, supported the government in the assembly but failed to formally enter the political alliance.
There are seven Rajya Sabha seats from Assam. Of these, three are in the hands of the BJP and one is in the hands of the alliance partner AGP. An independent member holds another seat. Legislators participate in Rajya Sabha elections because members of the upper house of Parliament are elected by Rajya Sabha MLAs. It is a selection through proportional representation.
This time Congress will not have any Rajya Sabha member from Assam. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was once a Member of the Rajya Sabha for Assam.
(With PTI input)
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