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. With the BJP winning eight of the 19 seats across the voting states, the party now has 86 seats on its own, while the Congress’s tally has been whittled down to 41. The outcome of the elections is, of course, an indicator of the political dominance of the BJP. It has done well in the states where it is in power. But the election results, it can also be argued, are a reflection of murky tactics. The defection of several legislators, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has now made it to the Rajya Sabha, had helped the BJP reconquer Madhya Pradesh from the Congress: it has, expectedly, won two of the three seats from the state. This kind of chicanery also helped the BJP bag the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Manipur where the Speaker disqualified three Congress MLAs and the sole Trinamul Congress legislator before the contest, paving the way for the election of the BJP’s candidate.

An aggressive BJP can legitimately claim credit for the demise of ethics at the hands of political opportunism. But the Rajya Sabha poll results are also an indicator of the pathetic state of disarray in which the Opposition finds itself. The Congress, struggling with disaffection and a paralysed leadership, is no longer able to keep its flock together. Gujarat, from which the saffron party won three seats, witnessed as many as eight Congress MLAs switch over to the BJP. These defections, encouraged by the absence of an effective legislation, bring forth another grim reminder: fidelity to ideology can be negated by the lure of perks and power. This bodes ill for India’s democratic pedestal. But the BJP would not have any complaints. Given its near consolidation in both Houses, it will be far easier for the party to push through contentious legislations. 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. The likelihood of an irreversible impact on India’s constitutional fabric can no longer be ignored.