The BJP consolidated its position as the largest party in the Rajya Sabha on Friday by winning 28 of the 58 seats in the House that were up for grabs in the biennial elections, widening the gap between it and the Congress. The BJP's performance came amid high drama in Uttar Pradesh where it clinched an extra ninth seat, overcoming the newfound bonhomie between former arch rivals SP and BSP. For the 59 Rajya Sabha seats to be filled, 33 candidates from 10 states were declared elected unopposed on March 15 with the BJP accounting for 16 of them. With these results, the BJP-led NDA now has 87 seats in the 245- seat Rajya Sabha compared to the 57 seats of the Congress-led UPA. Other smaller parties together account for the remaining 100 seats. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP leader GVL Narsimha Rao, SP's Jaya Bachchan (all from Uttar Pradesh), Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was backed by ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, and BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar (from Karnataka) were among the prominent winners. Backed by ruling CPI(M)-led LDF, M P Veerendra Kumar, the President of the Kerala unit of Janata Dal (U) Sharad Yadav faction, was elected from Kerala defeating his Congress rival, in a bypoll after he resigned from Rajya Sabha as a mark of protest following JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joining hands with BJP-led NDA. Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the winners in the Rajya Sabha polls. Congratulations to all those elected to the Rajya Sabha from various states and best wishes for their parliamentary career. I hope they effectively voice the aspirations of the states they will represent, he tweeted.