Three former Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MPs—Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, and Prakash Chik Baraik—join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal and are nominated as BJP candidates for upcoming Rajya Sabha bypolls. According to reports, the leaders resign from the Rajya Sabha and quit the TMC last month, following the party’s defeat in Bengal elections. They join the BJP in Kolkata, where senior party leaders induct them. Shortly after their induction, the BJP announces them as candidates for the bypolls, marking a political realignment ahead of the vote.
The bypolls are scheduled for July 24, with the three former TMC lawmakers set to contest under the BJP banner. The reports note that the switch in party affiliation follows the leaders’ earlier departures from the Upper House and the TMC, positioning the BJP to benefit from their established political profiles in the state.
