3 ex-TMC MPs elected to RS as BJP members, Koel likely to follow
Times of India | 18 July 2026
Kolkata: Former Trinamool MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, 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 days after switching sides.
This coincided with junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar saying that Koel Mallick, the fourth TMC RS MP who recently resigned, will re-enter the Upper House after her political realignment.
Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, who accompanied Ray, Dev and Baraik to the Bengal assembly as they collected their election certificates, evaded a direct reply on Mallick. “The party is larger than a leader, and the nation is larger than the party. There is speculation in the media over her (Koel Mallick). Let the speculation continue,” he said.
With no other candidates in the fray following the scrutiny of nominations on July 15, the returning officer handed over certificates to the three newly elected Rajya Sabha members after declaring them elected unopposed. Roy, Dev and Baraik joined BJP in Kolkata on July 9, just hours before the saffron party’s central election committee announced them as candidates for the July 24 Rajya Sabha bypolls.
“Koel Mallick took the decision not to continue with Trinamool. She has resigned, but she will be back in Rajya Sabha. It is the same as what happened with the other three RS MPs,” said Majumdar. Mallick’s resignation on July 16 came a little more than three months into her six-year term.
While Majumdar did not want to comment directly on Mallick’s political future, he dropped broad hints, saying that the party has to make “smaller sacrifices” at times to protect larger interests. “Reservation for women is required in the interest of the nation. BJP believes in country first and party after that,” he said.
Though some netas might be inducted at the top level, Majumdar, however, made it clear that there would not be any large-scale inductions among the rank and file. “BJP’s strength has increased in Rajya Sabha and we will have to work in the interest of the nation… We know that it might negatively impact the party in Bengal for the time being. It could even make a section of the workers unhappy,” Majumdar said.
Bhattacharya said for BJP, “it is not about Koel, Doel or Payel”. “We have a parliamentary committee with very senior netas. They take decisions on such issues. However, Koel is not an issue for BJP. The issue is Narendra Modi and the governance by BJP,” he added.
Bhattacharya, however, reiterated that BJP’s gates at the lower levels had been closed to those who “tried to convert overnight”. “We will not allow Trinamoolisation of BJP,” he said.
Neither Koel nor her father, veteran actor Ranjit Mallick, could be reached for a comment.