BJP has released the list of candidates for the by-elections to be held on 9 Rajya Sabha seats in 8 states. Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu will be the BJP candidate from Rajasthan. Manan Kumar Mishra from Bihar, Kiran Chaudhary from Haryana, Union Minister George Kurien from Madhya Pradesh, Dhairyasheel Patil from Maharashtra, Mamta Mohanta from Odisha and Rajiv Bhattacharya from Tripura will be the BJP candidates.
It is noteworthy that NDA is talking about sending Upendra Kushwaha to Rajya Sabha. According to sources of Rashtriya Lok Morcha, Upendra Kushwaha will file his nomination on 21st August at 11 am. 21st August is the last day to file nomination. Sending Upendra Kushwaha to Rajya Sabha by NDA clearly means that efforts are being made to woo him before Bihar elections.
Know how many MLAs each party has in all 9 states?
Assam: There are a total of 126 seats in the Vidhan Sabha. BJP has 60 seats and has a majority government. Since elections are to be held for two Rajya Sabha seats here, it is expected that BJP can win both these seats easily.
Bihar: There are 243 seats in the assembly. BJP has 78 MLAs in the ruling NDA. JDU has 44 and HAM has 3 MLAs. INDIA block’s RJD has 77 MLAs. Congress has 19 and CPI has 15 MLAs. While there is one AIMIM and two independent MLAs. Four seats are vacant, on which by-elections are to be held. There is a difference of 14 seats between the parties of both the alliances. Cross voting here can spoil the equation further.
Madhya Pradesh: There are 230 seats in the Vidhan Sabha. BJP has 163 seats here. Congress has 66 and others have 1 seat. Here too, the victory of the BJP candidate is considered almost certain.
Maharashtra: There are 288 assembly seats in the state. The ruling NDA has 211 MLAs. These include 103 from BJP, 40 from NCP (Ajit Pawar), 38 from Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and support of independents. At the same time, Congress has 37 members in MVA, Shiv Sena (UBT) has 15 and NCP (Sharad Pawar) has 12 members. Other parties include three from Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, two from Samajwadi Party, two from AIMIM, two from Prahar Janshakti Party, one from PWP, one from Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, one from Communist Party of India (Marxist), one from Krantikari Shetkari Party, one from Jan Surajya Shakti and 13 independent members. The two Rajya Sabha seats that have fallen vacant belong to BJP. Here too, both the seats seem to be going to BJP’s account.
Rajasthan: There are a total of 200 seats in the Vidhan Sabha. The ruling BJP has 114 MLAs. Congress has 66, Bharat Adivasi Party has 3, Bahujan Samaj Party has 2, Rashtriya Lok Dal has 1 MLA. There are 8 independent MLAs. 6 seats are vacant, on which by-elections are to be held. If we look at the number game, BJP has a chance of winning in Rajasthan as well.
Haryana: There are 90 assembly seats in the state. The ruling BJP has 41 MLAs and one MLA from HLP party. There are five independents. Out of these, three MLAs joined Congress. BJP has the support of 2 independents. In the opposition, Congress has 29 MLAs. While JJP has 10 and Indian National Lok Dal has one MLA. JJP is not a part of any alliance. Three seats are vacant, where by-elections are to be held. If BJP contests the election, it has an upper hand. However, cross voting cannot be ruled out. And if this happens, Congress will get direct benefit.
Tripura: There are a total of 60 assembly seats in the state, BJP has 32 MLAs. Congress and Left Alliance got only 14 seats. MLAs of Tipra Motha Party were elected on 13 seats. BJP has more numbers in Rajya Sabha elections, so BJP is seen winning here too.
Telangana: There are a total of 119 seats in the assembly. The ruling Congress has 65 MLAs. BRS has 38 and BJP has 8 MLAs. AIMIM has 7 and CPI has 1 MLA. Congress has the numbers game in the state.
Odisha: There are a total of 147 seats in the Vidhan Sabha. The ruling BJP has 78 MLAs. BJD has 51 MLAs. Congress has 14 and Left Front has 1 and 3 independent MLAs. BJP has the upper hand here.