UP win: BJP’s share in electoral college up

New Delhi, March 12 

The reverberations of BJP’s victory yesterday will be felt far beyond Uttar Pradesh—in the hallowed halls of the Rajya Sabha and Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The BJP’s win in UP and Uttarakhand has ensured that its share in the electoral college, which would elect the next President, goes up significantly.  The term of President Pranab Mukherjee is coming to an end on July 24 this year. 

The electoral college, which elects the President through the system of proportional representation, comprises elected MPs and members of state legislative Assemblies — a total of 4,896 voters, including 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs.

While the LS Speaker, an elected member, can vote, two nominated members from the Anglo-Indian community in the Lok Sabha and 12 nominated MPs in the RS cannot. The value of an MLA’s vote depends on the size of the state he or she represents. But the value of the vote of a MP does not vary. The value of the electoral college is 10,98,882.

Before the Assembly polls, the NDA was short of 75,076 votes in terms of value. But after the BJP’s performance in UP, Uttarakhand and Manipur, the gap will narrow down to 20,000 votes, an official in the poll panel explained.

If it is able to get the support of parties such as the AIADMK with 134 MLAs and the BJD with 117 MLAs, it can place the person of its choice in Rashtrapati Bhavan easily. With yesterday’s win, the BJP is set to replace the Congress as the single largest party in the Rajya Sabha too next year. — PTI