If the numbers are anything to go by, then ‘Operation Rajya Sabha’ — the Bharatiya Janata Party’s mission to gain a majority in the upper House of Parliament — has moved closer to completion. The results of the latest round of the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha show that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has gained a significant advantage — it now has close to 100 seats out of 245 in the House. But the Rajya Sabha poll results are also an indicator of the pathetic state of disarray in which the Opposition finds itself. Gujarat, from which the saffron party won three seats, witnessed as many as eight Congress MLAs switch over to the BJP. The lack of numbers in the Rajya Sabha had kept some of these questionable policies in check; but the change in the composition of the House will further weaken the opposition.

Source: The Telegraph June 23, 2020 19:18 UTC