Kolkata, July 9 (IANS) Three former Rajya Sabha members of the Trinamool Congress, who resigned from the Upper House of Parliament last month and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier on Thursday evening, have been nominated by the BJP as its candidates for the Rajya Sabha bypolls to the seats vacated by them.

On Thursday evening, BJP’s West Bengal president and Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya welcomed the three former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha members — Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik — into the party and handed them the BJP flag.

Later on Thursday night, the BJP issued a press statement announcing the candidature of Roy, Dev and Baraik for the bypolls.

However, Bhattacharya made it clear that allowing Roy, Dev and Baraik to join the BJP should be viewed as an exceptional case.

The bypolls for the three vacant Rajya Sabha seats are scheduled to be held on July 24, and the victory of the BJP candidates from all three seats is considered a virtual foregone conclusion.

Roy was the first to resign from the Rajya Sabha on June 8, followed by Sushmita Dev on June 10 and Prakash Chik Baraik on June 11.

After his resignation, Baraik praised West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. On the other hand, Dev, an Assam-based politician, met Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (of Assam) in Delhi.

Incidentally, Roy had been critical of the Trinamool Congress leadership long before the West Bengal Assembly elections held earlier this year. He gradually distanced himself from the party leadership, criticising the Mamata Banerjee-led administration over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August 2024.

Thereafter, Roy was sidelined within the party before eventually resigning from the Rajya Sabha last month.

As per the current numerical strength in the West Bengal Assembly, the BJP nominees are expected to win all three seats. The BJP currently has 208 MLAs in the Assembly. To defeat a BJP nominee, an opposition candidate would require at least 70 votes.

Though officially the Trinamool Congress has 80 legislators, 60 of them are with the “rebel but majority” faction led by expelled party legislator Ritabrata Banerjee, while the remaining 20 belong to the “original but minority” faction, which continues to owe allegiance to Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.

–IANS

src/pgh