Meteoric rise in less than a decade: AAP set to become fifth-largest party in Rajya Sabha in July

Come July and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is all set to become the fifth-largest party in the Rajya Sabha with 10 members, a significant accomplishment in its history of less than a decade.

However, Arvind Kejriwal’s party will have no member in the Lok Sabha for the time being.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the schedule for the by-poll to Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab. The seat was vacated by Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann after getting elected to the state assembly from Dhuri constituency.

Till now, the AAP has eight members in the Upper House of Parliament – three from Delhi and five from Punjab. The party has an absolute majority in both states.

The ECI has issued the schedule for the elections to the 57 Rajya Sabha seats. Out of these, two are from Punjab and going by its strength, the AAP is all set to win both. That will take its strength to 10 in the 245-member House, and make it the fifth-largest party in the Rajya Sabha.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with 95 members, is the number one party followed by the Congress with 29. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) with 13 is the third followed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) with 10.

In the Rajya Sabha, 10 is a significant number and the AAP’s stand will be crucial for the passage of any bill. This will be an important milestone for Arvind Kejriwal's party in less than a decade of its formation in 2013.

It will also be interesting to see who the AAP fields from Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency in the by-elections. That will be the first public test of the party's popularity in Punjab after winning a massive mandate of 92 seats in the February 2020 assembly elections.

A similar test of its popularity will be held from the Rajendra Nagar seat in Delhi. The by-election to the seat has been necessitated by the resignation of Raghav Chadha who got elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.

The elections to these 57 Rajya Sabha seats will be held on June 10. Out of these, 11 are in Uttar Pradesh, six each in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, five in Bihar, four each in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka, three each in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, two each in Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana and Punjab, and one in Uttarakhand.

The Rajya Sabha polls come weeks ahead of the election for the President and vice-president posts.