The Janata Dal (United) joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has come as a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government in the Rajya Sabha. The government was short of the 123-member halfway mark in the Upper House. But it can now look forward to easier days in the Rajya Sabha with Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Sitaram Yechury not being allowed by his party to contest and Nitish Kumar’s JD (U) quitting the Opposition ranks. Now, the NDA is at the halfway mark and would inch closer to the majority mark by April 2018. From August 2017 to April 2018, as many as 70 members would retire. The BJP and its allies are set to gain nearly a dozen seats by April.
