By Dr. Gyan Pathak
In the pursuit of gaining strength in the Parliament of India – both in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha – the ruling BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has adopted a national political strategy of splitting the opposition political parties, that has reached its height of shamelessness on July 9, 2026 creating a feeling of deeper disgust among lovers of democracy and fair ethical and moral politics. The party has renominated three TMC leaders for Rajya Sabha, who had resigned from the House between June 8 and 11.
These former TMC MPs are Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Susmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik. BJP had got them resigned from the Rajya last month, because it was not able to split TMC in the House. TMC had 13 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, and a split and merger with the BJP or any other party required 9 MPs to form a separate group. To legally break away without losing seats, two-third of party’s elected legislators must agree to merge with another political party or form a new political entity.
When BJP could not legally do so, they got the said MPs resign from the membership creating vacancy in the Rajya Sabha. Thereafter, Rajya Sabha election was necessitated for the vacant seats and date of election was announced to be held on July 24. BJP then gave party ticked to the same three MPs, after they formally joined the BJP on July 24. BJP has just won West Bengal election in May, and has 208 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Hence, BJP is in a position to send all the three MPs in Rajya Sabha again, but now as BJP MPs.
However, in Lok Sabha, BJP succeeded in getting 20 out of 28 Lok Sabha MPs to form a separate entity. TMC in Lok Sabha is thus broken, and the splinter group has merged into NCPI, which is a little known party of the North East, though originally registered in West Bengal. It should be noted that NCPI supports BJP and is part of NDA. Lok Sabha Speaker is yet to approve this merger, and TMC is contesting it demanding that the rebel MPs must be disqualified.
There in Kolkata, over 60 out of 80 TMC MLAs have formed a separate group under the leadership of Ritabrata Banerjee, whom the Speaker of the Assembly has recognized as the leader of the opposition. Armed with the decision of the Speaker, the splinter group has claimed that they are the “real TMC” and also has applied to the Election Commission of India for recognition. Mamata Banerjee will have to fight against this conspiracy of the BJP, so that as founder of the party she can retain the name and party symbol.
Nevertheless, experience in Maharashtra shows that neither Sharad Pawar could retain his party NCP’s name and symbol, not Uddhav Thackeray his party Shiv Sena’s name and symbol. Thanks to the murky politics of the BJP, which has been alleged of adopting a strategy of splitting the opposition political parties and even toppling the opposition government.
It was only in the early 2026, BJP had got 7 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs to form a separate group and merged with the BJP. Seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MPs formally merged with the BJP, following their removal from key party leadership positions. The MPs involved are Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Dr. Ashok Kumar Mittal, Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, and Rajinder Gupta. This switch reduced AAP’s representation in the Upper House from 10 to just three members, while boosting the BJP’s strength to 113.
Currently, BJP’s own strength in the Rajya Sabha is 114, which will go up to 117, after the election of the renominated former TMC MPs on BJP ticket. Though, BJP’s tally will thus increase to highest in party’s history in Rajya Sabha, it will still be six less than majority on its own, which it badly needs. Majority mark in the Rajya Sabha is 123. Nevertheless, there are three independents that are supporting the party, while there are also seven nominated members. Altogether, their number will reach 127, that is four more than simple majority.
BJP’s allied in the NDA had another 26 MPs, and therefore, the total seats of the NDA in Rajya Sabha will be 153, which is 11 lower than the 164 to reach the two-third majority for passage of any constitutional amendment in the House, which the BJP leadership is trying to accomplish – especially in the matter of delimitation among others.
As for Lok Sabha, NDA have now 318 seats, Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have 184 seats and Others/Unaffiliated have 38 seats. Three seats are vacant. For two-third majority NDA will need 362 votes. Hence, we will see BJP playing even more ugly politics in the near future, as we have seen in the past, only to gain strength having no ethics and morals.
In Bengal, state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya had said that their party would not induct any rebel TMC leaders into their fold. But now he says that the latest induction is an “exception not a deviation (from stated policy).” It reflects the true colour of BJP politicians.
There are reports that BJP is trying to split even more political parties and leaders, or at least get their support by adopting multiple strategies including carrot and stick policy, with no democratic norms, ethics, and morals whatsoever. It is anybody’s guess where India is heading towards. (IPA Service)
