MC Explains: Nitish gifts NDA five seats in Rajya Sabha against his return

The term of the 56 incumbent Rajya Sabha MPs is due to expire in April.

By stitching an alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) once again, Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar switched sides for the fourth time in the last 10 years.

However, Kumar’s second turnaround in the last 18 months will also boost the NDA numbers in the Rajya Sabha. With six vacant seats (four from Jammu and Kashmir and two nominated) in the House of 245, the current strength of the Rajya Sabha is 239 and 123 is the halfway mark. The BJP has 94 MPs, including five nominated members. With JDU now a part of the NDA, five of its Rajya Sabha MPs will sit on the treasury benches. Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Harivansh will also be part of those five members.

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Kumar’s exit also paves the way for the NDA getting three of its six Rajya Sabha seats in April’s biennial polls. As many as 55 seats will be contested in April. These additional seats will ensure that the BJP deals with any likely offset from the AIADMK. The latter has four seats in the Upper House. Bihar’s six seats will face biennial elections in April. These six MPs whose terms are ending include Manoj Kumar Jha and Ashfaque Karim from the RJD, BJP’s Sushil Modi, Bashistha Narayan Singh and Anil Prasad Hegde of the JD(U) and the Congress' Akhilesh Prasad Singh. When JD(U) was in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, the NDA had only one of these six MPs.

Also read: Four gains for the BJP from the Bihar coup

Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP can retain all three seats of the NDA - one BJP, two JD(U) - in the biennial elections. Each party would need at least 36 MLAs to win a seat in the biennial polls. With 128 seats in Bihar at its disposal, the ruling alliance will now have enough votes to win the three seats in the Upper House.

Rajya Sabha election and its significance

The Upper House is permanent and cannot be dissolved. Under Article 83(1) of the Constitution, one-third of its members retire after every second year and 'biennial elections' are held to fill these vacancies. Each member has a tenure of six years. Out of the 245 members, 12 are nominated by the President and 233 are representatives of the States and Union Territories.

For both ruling and opposition parties, each vote counts as any bill, except Money Bills, needs the approval of the Rajya Sabha to become a law. It cannot amend a Money Bill but can recommend changes within a stipulated time. Then the Lok Sabha may accept or reject these changes.

Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by MLAs through an indirect process. According to Article 80(4), the members shall be elected by the elected members of state Assemblies through a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

The nominated members should have special knowledge in various areas such as arts and science. However, they are not entitled to vote in presidential elections, according to Article 55 of the Constitution.