The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is one of the two major parties in the political system of Republic of India, the other being the Indian National Congress (INC).[1] As of 2015[update], it is the country's largest political party in terms of representation in the Lok Sabha (House of the People),[2] and is the world's largest political party in terms of primary membership.[3] Established in 1980, the BJP's platform is generally considered as the right-wing of the political spectrum.[4]
The Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India.[5] As of February 2020[update], 252 BJP leaders have been a member of the Rajya Sabha,[6] out of which 82 are sitting members.[7] Members of the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by state and territorial legislatures using single transferable votes, while twelve members are appointed by the President of India for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services.[5][8] According to the Constitution of India, the Rajya Sabha has certain special powers being a federal chamber.[8] The Rajya Sabha is not subjected to dissolution unlike the Lok Sabha, and the term of its member is six years.[8]
Seventeen of the Rajya Sabha members from the BJP are women,[6] out of which six are sitting members – Roopa Ganguly, Kanta Kardam, Sonal Mansingh, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Saroj Pandey.[9] Eleven of the sitting members from the BJP are members of the Union Council of Ministers of India.[10] Jaswant Singh represented Rajasthan for four terms which amounted to a total tenure length of 7398 days, the longest for any Rajya Sabha member from the BJP.[11][12] The only other BJP members to serve four terms as a Rajya Sabha member are Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan, Venkaiah Naidu, and Ravi Shankar Prasad.[11] Among the sitting members, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has the longest total tenure length of 7247 days.[12]
BJP members have represented 21 states and union territories in the Rajya Sabha. Out of these, Uttar Pradesh has contributed the highest number of members (44).[6] It is followed by Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat with 36 and 34 members respectively.[6]
- ^ Edward A. Gargan (29 November 1993). "India's Two Major Political Parties Stumble in Regional Elections". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ^ "Sixteenth Lok Sabha – Party-wise Representation of Members". Lok Sabha. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ^ Chatterjee, Mohua (13 July 2015). "BJP enrolls 11 crore members, launches 'Mahasampark Abhiyan'". First Post. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ^ Sagarika Dutt (12 November 2006). India in a Globalised World. Manchester University Press. p. 64. ISBN 9781847792143. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
BJP is a right wing party and gives priority to the unity of the country.
- ^ a b "Our Parliament". parliamentofindia.nic.in. Parliament of India. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Advanced Search". Rajya Sabha. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
- ^ "List of Members in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)". Rajya Sabha. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Frequently asked questions about Rajya Sabha". rajyasabha.nic.in. Rajya Sabha. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ^ "Rajya Sabha – List of Women Members". Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ^ "Members of Rajya Sabha in the Council of Ministers". Rajya Sabha. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
formertermswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
current-termswas invoked but never defined (see the help page).