New Delhi: Amid the newfound bonhomie among Opposition parties after the drubbing in the recent Assembly polls in five states, efforts are on to get top leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati elected to the Rajya Sabha for another term to retain the upper hand the parties have in the Upper House. The NDA now has 74 members and the UPA 73 members in the Rajya Sabha, while 88 seats are held by other parties.
Mayawati, who got only 19 seats in the UP Assembly polls, despite the BSP getting 22 per cent of voteshare, does not have a single MP in the Lok Sabha as well. Therefore, when her term expires in April next year, the BSP chief cannot get back into the Upper House on her own strength.
However, at the recent lunch hosted for the Opposition parties by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, sources told this newspaper that none other than Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had offered to send Ms Mayawati back to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar. There are six Rajya Sabha seats that will fall vacant in Bihar, out of which the RJD can have two seats in its kitty.
