BJP crosses 100 mark in Rajya Sabha, Congress has 30 MPs

The BJP has touched the 100 mark in the upper house of parliament, becoming the first party to do so since 1990. The party won three more seats in the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha -- one each from Assam, Tripura and Nagaland in the elections held on March 31. The BJP currently has 101 MPs in the Upper House -- a first in the party's history that is expected to give a psychological advantage in passing of bills. When it first came to power in 2014, the party had just 55 seats. The Rajya Sabha has 245 members, the majority mark stands at 123. The renewed strength, however, will give the BJP an opportunity to get its own nominees elected for the posts of President and Vice President, for which the elections are due later this year.

Six newly-elected Rajya Sabha MPs took oath as members of the Upper House on Monday. Two of them were from the BJP -- S Phangnon Konyak from Nagaland and Pabitra Margherita from Assam. One MP from the Congress, one from the CPI, and one from the CPM also took oath. The BJP's Dr Sikandar Kumar was elected unopposed from Himachal Pradesh, S Phangnon Konyak from Nagaland and Manik Saha from Tripura.The rise in BJP numbers has corresponded with a decline in Congress numbers as the opposition party lost a string of assembly polls since 2014. The party currently has 30 MPs in the upper house. Any further drop in numbers will lead to the party's losing the status of Leader of Opposition in the Upper House.