The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has seen its strength in the Rajya Sabha rise to 113 following the inclusion of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members.
The revised party strength in the Upper House now shows the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with 148 members, including five nominated lawmakers, bringing it closer to a two-thirds majority.
The seven AAP lawmakers, including Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta, and Vikramjit Singh Sahney, have been accepted as members of the BJP parliamentary party by Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan.
However, AAP's Sanjay Singh has questioned the merger, stating it is not legal under the anti-defection law, which requires two-thirds of the original party to agree to merge.
With 30 more Rajya Sabha seats set to be vacated by the end of the year, the BJP is hopeful of gaining at least five more, further solidifying its position in the Upper House.
