The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) got a boost on April 24 after seven MPs from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) switched sides. Even after this, the ruling alliance is still short by 18 members to reach a two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha. At the same time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is still 10 MPs away from having a simple majority on its own in the Upper House.
Right now, the NDA has the support of 145 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. The two-thirds majority mark in the House, which has a total strength of 244 members, stands at 163.
If the NDA manages to reach that number, passing important laws that need constitutional amendments will become much easier.
In the Lok Sabha as well, the NDA has a simple majority but not a two-thirds majority. For that, it needs 363 MPs.
If Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan approves the merger of AAP’s parliamentary group into the BJP, the BJP’s strength could go up to 113 MPs from the current 106.
On top of that, the party is likely to get support from seven nominated members and two independent MPs. That would take the number of BJP-backed MPs to around 122, which is exactly the halfway mark.
Sources say the seven AAP MPs who joined BJP could get approval for the merger since they form more than two-thirds of AAP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha.
Earlier, on April 17, a key Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill — which aimed to bring 33% reservation for women in legislatures from 2029 and increase Lok Sabha seats to 816 — was defeated in the Lok Sabha because the NDA couldn’t secure a two-thirds majority. This was the first time during the current NDA government that a constitutional amendment bill failed to pass.
AAP leader Raghav Chadha said that more than two-thirds of AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha had agreed to merge with the BJP as per constitutional provisions.
He added that seven MPs signed the merger documents and submitted them to the Chairman, and he personally handed over the papers along with two other MPs.