NEW DELHI: The results of Gujarat and Himachal assemblies will not immediately affect the party-wise composition of the Rajya Sabha, but the historic win for BJP in Gujarat means yet another record for the party in the Upper House when it will eventually have all 11 seats from the state in its kitty by mid-2026.
Currently, BJP has eight and Congress has three members in Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. BJP will retain its three Upper House seats from the state when vacancies arise in August next year.
The party will gain two additional seats out of four in biennial election in April 2024 and one more out of other four seats that go to polls in June 2026, taking its total tally to 11 from the state. Such a feat is rare in bigger states, especially when more than one seat from a state goes to polls.

The Congress assembly tally in Himachal will, on the other hand, allow the party to have one out of three seats from the state in the Rajya Sabha in April 2024 ahead of the next parliamentary polls and a second one two years later.
Currently, all three members from Himachal Pradesh in the Upper House are from BJP. It includes the party president J P Nadda who will retire in April 2024. The fate of the third seat from the state will only be decided by the next assembly as the vacancy will arise there in 2028.
Overall composition of the Upper House will not effectively change next year when only 10 seats will go vacant due to retirement of members. The noticeable change is expected only in April 2024 (around next parliamentary election) when 56 seats will go to polls in the biennial election.
At present, Rajya Sabha’s current strength is 239 as there are six vacant seats (four from J&K and two nominated) in the House of 245. BJP is the largest party with 92 MPs followed by Congress (31 MPs), TMC (13 MPs), and DMK and AAP with 10 each.
At present, Himachal, Delhi, Punjab, Telangana and Uttarakhand are the five states where a single party has all the Rajya Sabha seats, if states with single RS MP aren’t counted.