Trinamool’s winning candidate
Kolkata:
All five candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections in West Bengal – four from the ruling TMC and one from the BJP – were declared elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday, Assembly sources said.
The West Bengal Assembly Secretariat handed over certificates to TMC’s Sushmita Dev, Sagarika Ghosh, Mamata Thakur and Mohammad Nadimul Haq.
BJP’s Samik Bhattacharya won the fifth Rajya Sabha seat.
Biennial elections were held for those seats whose tenure will end next month.
While Haq will enjoy a third consecutive term, Dev has returned to the Upper House on a TMC ticket after a gap of a few months.
Former Congress leader Dev, who joined TMC in 2021, has been the party’s Rajya Sabha MP from October 2021 to August 2023 after TMC leader Manas Bhunia vacated the seat to join the West Bengal cabinet.
Dev, who is also the TMC national spokesperson, looks after the party’s affairs in Assam.
Journalist Sagarika Ghosh, who debuted in politics as TMC’s Rajya Sabha member, expressed happiness on becoming a Member of Parliament.
our leader, @sagarikaghose, @SushmitaDevAITC,Mamata Thakur, and @MdNadimulHaque6have taken their seats in the Rajya Sabha as Honorable Members of the Rajya Sabha.
Adopting a strong women-centric ethos, our Rajya Sabha MPs are ready to take on the BJP… pic.twitter.com/xlfXIol0kJ
– All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) 20 February 2024
He posted on Instagram: “Big day of my life. Excited to be a member of India’s opposition in the brave @AITCOfficial and fight for a democratic, multi-faith, multi-lingual India. Joy Bangla, Jai Hind.”
Thakur’s nomination has drawn attention as she is a former Lok Sabha MP and a prominent leader of the Matua community.
Thakur, a two-time Lok Sabha MP, lost the politically crucial Matua-dominated Bongaon seat to her relative, BJP’s Shantanu Thakur, in 2019.
Thakur’s nomination comes amid BJP’s efforts to woo the Matua community with the promise of implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The united voting behavior of the Matua community makes them an important voting block, especially with the BJP’s stance on the CAA.
With TMC enjoying a comfortable majority of 217 in the 294-member assembly, including the support of six BJP MLAs who joined the ruling party but have not yet resigned, victory for its four candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections was assured. .
BJP’s official strength in the assembly is 74.
According to the numerical strength in the Assembly, out of five Rajya Sabha seats, TMC was sure to get four and BJP the fifth seat.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
