New Delhi, Feb. 2 -- The BJP-led NDA government is set to tighten its grip on the Rajya Sabha this year by taking its tally to at least 137 seats (including nominated members) while the Opposition and fence-sitters are set to lose seats. The ruling NDA already sits comfortably above the majority mark of 123 in the 245-member Upper House. A total of 72 lawmakers will complete their Rajya Sabha terms in March, April, June, July and November this year. They include nominated member and former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who retires in March. The ruling NDA held 42 of these seats. After elections to these 71 seats (barring the nominated one), the NDA's tally will likely increase to at least 46 seats. The Congress-led INDIA bloc, which currently has 23 of these 71 seats, will get reduced by at least one seat. Fence-sitters such as the BJD, YSRCP and BRS along with an independent lawmaker from Assam holds seven seats. They would be reduced to just three seats with YSRCP and BRS set to lose four Rajya Sabha berths. Election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Manipur, which will go vacant in June, is unlikely to take place as the northeastern state is under President's rule. One more seat is likely to go vacant soon as NCP lawmaker Sunetra Pawar on Sunday took oath as the Maharashtra deputy chief minister, a post her late husband Ajit Pawar held before his death in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28. The biennial elections will also witness a new low for the Left parties in West Bengal, when CPI(M) lawmaker Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharjee's term will end in April. The Left would not have any representative in the Rajya Sabha from the eastern state for the first time since the 1970s. The Left, which has scored two consecutive zero in West Bengal assembly polls, also doesn't have any Lok Sabha lawmaker from the state. Top leaders to face fresh election include Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, former prime minister and JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda, Congress's Abhishek Singhvi and Digvijaya Singh, Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha's (RLM) Upendra Kushwaha. The INDIA bloc has its task cut out to retain at least 22 seats. The Congress will have to engage in intense talks with not-so-friendly parties in Assam and Odisha to get a seat each. In Odisha, the BJP is set to win two seats. BJD, the principal opponent, would retain one seat. But if former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik decides against supporting an Opposition candidate for the fourth seat, it too, can go to the BJP. Similarly, in Assam, the Congress needs the support of AIUDF to bag a Rajya Sabha berth, failing which, the NDA can easily manoeuvre to get additional seats through the second preference votes. The NDA's biggest gain will come from Maharashtra, where it had swept the assembly elections last year. India's richest state can give three additional seats to the ruling alliance. The BJP-led coalition will also gain seats in Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The Opposition will gain seats in Telangana, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh....