Kolkata: Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik were on Friday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal as BJP candidates, completing a swift political turnaround just days after switching sides.
The three leaders were declared elected after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations expired on Friday, with no other candidates remaining in the fray following the scrutiny of nomination papers on July 15.
The Returning Officer formally handed over certificates of election to the newly elected Rajya Sabha members after declaring them elected unopposed.
Roy, Dev and Chik Baraik had joined the BJP in Kolkata on July 9, just hours before the party's Central Election Committee announced them as its candidates for the July 24 Rajya Sabha bypolls.
The bypolls were necessitated after the trio resigned from both the Rajya Sabha and the TMC last month following the party's defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections, creating vacancies in the three Upper House seats.
Their return to Parliament marks another setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, with all three re-entering the Rajya Sabha on BJP tickets within weeks of leaving the party.
The induction of the former TMC MPs also marked the BJP's first major inclusion of Trinamool leaders since its sweeping victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections and the formation of its maiden government in the state. The move signals that the party's post-election reluctance to induct TMC leaders does not extend to those it considers politically credible and free from corruption allegations.
Roy, who represented the TMC in the Rajya Sabha since 2012, was widely regarded as one of the party's foremost legal and parliamentary strategists.
His differences with the party leadership came into the open after the RG Kar rape and murder case, when he publicly sought accountability from his own party, drawing criticism from within the TMC.
Although he later deleted some of his social media posts, citing threats to his family's safety, the episode is believed to have deepened his differences with the party leadership.
Dev, a former Congress Lok Sabha MP from Assam and former president of the All India Mahila Congress, joined the TMC in 2021. Before switching to the BJP, she had publicly criticised the Trinamool leadership over allegations of corruption.
Chik Baraik, who had entered the Rajya Sabha on a TMC ticket, also resigned from both the Upper House and the party last month before joining the BJP.
