The Trinamool Congress on Monday dropped its north-east face Sushmita Dev—whose term as Rajya Sabha MP is ending—and nominated RTI activist and the party’s national spokesperson Saket Gokhale in her place for one of the six Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal set to go to polls later this month. Gokhale is a trenchant critic of the Modi Government and has been arrested many times in multiple cases.
Sushmita Dev was one of the few national-level politicians who had joined the Trinamool Congress in the wake of the party’s landslide win in the 2021 Assembly polls. Prior to joining the Trinamool Congress, Dev served as the president of the Congress party’s women’s wing. She is the daughter of the former Congress Minister and North-East India’s strongman Santosh Mohan Dev. The party re-nominated three of its MPs—Derek O’Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Dola Sen—and announced the names of three fresh candidates. Along with Gokhale, the party announced Bangla Sanskriti Mancha president Samirul Islam and Alipurduar district president Prakash Chik Baraik as its RS candidates.
O’Brien has been a Rajya Sabha MP since 2011 and is the TMC’s leader in the Rajya Sabha, while Ray—first sent to the Upper House of Parliament in 2012—is the deputy chief whip. Sen, a senior leader and trade unionist, became an MP in 2017. The tenures of Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya, and TMC’s Darjeeling leader Shanta Chhetri have also ended.
“We take great pleasure in announcing the candidatures of Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Sukhendu Sekhar, Samirul Islam, Prakash Chik Baraik and Saket Gokhale for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections,” the TMC said in a tweet. “May they persist in their dedication to serving the people and uphold Trinamool’s enduring legacy of indomitable spirit and advocacy for the RIGHTS OF EVERY INDIAN. We extend our heartfelt wishes to all,” a tweet from the official handle on Monday morning read. It added, “The TMC has 216 MLAs in the 294-member Assembly and enjoys the support of five BJP MLAs, who switched over to the ruling party but are yet to resign from the House. The BJP has a strength of 70 in the Assembly. Along with these seats from West Bengal, elections will be held for four Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat and Goa.” According to polling norms, the counting of votes will take place on the very day of the elections on 24 July at 5 pm, an hour after the conclusion of the poll process.
