The upcoming biennial elections to 58 Rajya Sabha seats may not see an increase in the tally for the Congress in the Upper House, but it is going to be a certain gain for the ruling UPA alliance as the Trinamul Congress is set to replace at least three of the total four retiring members of the Left parties in West Bengal.
The major change in the Upper House would be seen between the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party as the two parties have swapped positions in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly after the recent polls.
Since the BSP has been reduced to only 80 members whereas SP has a majority of 224 MLAs, the former would not be able to maintain its strength of 18 members. Six BSP members are retiring next month, whereas, as per its strength in the Assembly, the party would be able to send only two members to the Rajya Sabha.
In the changed scenario the ruling SP would be able to grab four from the BSP and would be able to retain the two retiring seats as well in the Upper house while increasing its strength to 10 seats. The BSP will be reduced from its present strength of 18 to 14.
In West Bengal, as per the party strengths, the TMC is set to bag at least three of the existing CPI(M) seats apart from retaining its lone retiring seat. The number of Left members from the state will be reduced to five from its existing eight, whereas the TMC will increase its number from five to eight.