The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) consolidated its position as the largest party in the Rajya Sabha with 69 seats, thus widening the gap with Congress, whose seat share has fallen to 50 seats from 54 in the recently concluded elections to the Upper House. Despite a surge in numbers, however, the 126-mark majority continues to elude the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The BJP, which earlier held 54 seats in the Rajya Sabha, has now increased its standing to 69 seats in the House. Among the 58 outgoing parliamentarians, for which the Rajya Sabha polls were held, 17 are from the BJP. On 15 March, the last day of filing nominations, 16 BJP MPs were declared elected uncontested out of a total of 33. The BJP registered a massive victory, as it won nine seats from Uttar Pradesh. The BJP members who won eight seats with ease are Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, Ashok Bajpai, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, Sakal Deep Rajbhar, Kanta Kardam, Anil Jain, Harnath Singh Yadav and GVL Narasimha Rao.