AIADMK Joins Hands with BJP, NDA Secures Edge in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The alliance between BJP and AIADMK has been announced in Tamil Nadu. The effect of this alliance in the South will be clearly visible till Delhi. After AIADMK joined hands with BJP, the ruling coalition in Rajya Sabha has ensured majority in the full power house Rajya Sabha without including the support of nominated members.

The ruling coalition already had a majority in the Upper House. It currently has 236 members and nine vacancies. In fact, recently the House approved the Waqf Amendment Bill, while AIADMK voted against the bill. Currently, the NDA's strength in the Upper House is 119. This also includes the support of Karthikeya Sharma, an independent MP from Haryana. Sharma had won the election with the support of the BJP.

What is the new equation?

Now, with the support of four AIADMK MPs in the NDA, the strength of the BJP-led alliance will go up to 123. So, even when the Upper House attains its full strength of 245, the ruling coalition will still be in the majority. Besides, the NDA also needs the support of six nominated members, so the effective number is 125. All six were nominated by the BJP and nominated members usually side with the party that sends them to the House.

Vacancies of four nominated members

With the AIADMK MPs joining the ruling party, its effective strength will go up to 129. It could go up to 134 or more after the vacancies on the government side are filled. Of the nine vacancies in the House, four are for nominated members to be appointed by the Centre, four are from Jammu and Kashmir, and one is from Andhra Pradesh, which is ruled by NDA ally TDP.

The BJP has 98 members in the Rajya Sabha, including two nominated members. The other NDA allies are JD(U) four, NCP three, TDP two, and Shiv Sena, AGP, PMK, RLD, RLM, Tamil Manila Congress (Moopanar), NPP, JD(S), RPI (Athawale), UPPL and MNF have one member each.