New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has reached the majority mark in Rajya Sabha after nine BJP leaders and two members from the allies were elected unopposed in the bypolls for the upper house. The BJP's strength in the upper house has now increased to 96 members, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) holds 112 seats.
From the BJP, Mission Ranjan Das and Rameshwar Teli were elected to Rajya Sabha from Assam, Manan Kumar Mishra from Bihar, Kiran Choudhary from Haryana, Union Minister George Kurian from Madhya Pradesh, Dhairyasheel Patil from Maharashtra, Mamata Mohanta from Odisha, Ravneet Singh Bittu from Rajasthan, and Rajeev Bhattacharjee from Tripura.
Among the NDA allies, Nitin Patil from the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP secured a seat, while Upendra Kushwaha, the President of Rashtriya Lok Morcha, was elected unopposed from Bihar. Senior Congress leader and advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi also got elected to the Rajya Sabha from Telangana, taking the Opposition's INDIA bloc numbers in the Upper House to 85.
The Rajya Sabha currently has eight vacant seats, with four from Jammu and Kashmir and four for nominated members, bringing the majority mark in the 245-member house to 119.
