Congress one seat short in MP for RS nomination

BHOPAL: Call it the mathematics of entry into Rajya Sabha. Congress is one seat short in the state assembly for an Upper House nomination and BJP is nine seats short for a third seat in RS from Madhya Pradesh. There are three seats getting vacated in the Upper House next month - Anil Madhav Dave, Chandan Mitra of the BJP and Vijaylaxmi Sadho of the Congress complete their six-year terms.
"With 230 total seats in the state assembly, quota for an Upper House seat in Parliament works to 58 MLAs," explained Bhagwandev Israni, principal secretary of the state assembly secretariat. "Congress has 57 seats. However, 58 is only a random quota. It means that when all 230 legislators vote, then 58 is the number for a Rajya Sabha nomination. If some legislators keep away from voting then the quota will go down." But more than Congress, the BJP is in a bigger dilemma. It requires 174 MLAs if it wants to grab all three nominations and deny Congress of that one nomination to the Rajya Sabha.
"BJP has 165 MLAs in the House, nine short of the numbers required to send all three from the party. Though there are four BSP seats, it is unlikely they will support the BJP," a senior BJP leader told TOI. "On the contrary, BSP legislators might support the Congress like the party did in Uttarakhand." Sources within the BJP argued that in case of some cross-voting by Congress MLAs, the ruling party could get lucky. However, that would not be an easy feat as voting these days are open and any legislator cross-voting can be identified instantly.
Solution under the circumstances is that BJP send two nominations and out of good-will let the Opposition send one member. "If both parties unanimously decide of such an arrangement, then a voting will not be required," the state assembly secretarial said.