The Bharatiya Janata Party is going to send its first member from West Bengal to Rajya Sabha as six seats from the state in the Upper House of the Parliament are soon going to become vacant. As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the elections for the seats will take place on July 24.
As per the existing strength in West Bengal Assembly, BJP can send one member to Rajya Sabha. Out of the six RS seats, which are going to be vacant soon, Trinamool Congress is expected to win five.
The election to Rajya Sabha is necessitated as five MPs from Trinamool Congress and one MP from Congress are retiring on August 18. Derek O’Brien, Sushmita Dev, Dola Sen, Shanta Chhetri and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy of TMC and Pradip Bhattacharya of Congress will retire from Rajya Sabha next month.
Ahead of the polls, lobbying has intensified among state BJP leaders for the lone Rajya Sabha seat. According to reports, two lists have already been sent to the BJP central leadership to finalise the candidate.
One list has been submitted by West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumder,, while the other has been sent by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari, India Today reported.
Many names are floating around for the single Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal, however, five BJP leaders have made it to the probable list of candidates, according to a News18 report.
Here is a look at the five probable candidates under consideration for the RS seat:
Anirban Ganguly
Image: FacebookAmit Shah’s Biographer, Anirban Ganguly who is also the honorary director at Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation (SPMRF) is being considered for the seat for his grasp over policy issues, and his bonding with Shah.
Mithun Chakraborty
Image: Wikimedia CommonsThe popular film star, who joined the BJP in 2021, had expressed his wish to represent the party in Rajya Sabha. The actor-turned-politician has been aggressively campaigning for the party in the state.
Bharati Ghosh
Image: TwitterThe former IPS officer served in Bengal under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and shared an extraordinary rapport with her. But, Bharati Ghosh’s relationship soon soured with the CM, which led to raids being conducted at her residence, she switched to BJP and was fielded as a candidate in the 2021 Bengal election.
Ananta Maharaj
Image: FacebookAnanta Maharaj, the leader of the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association who is often referred to as the voice of North Bengal is also in the fray for the Rajya Sabha seat. He contested both the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 assembly elections while fighting the demand to declare North Bengal as a Union Territory.
Swapan Dasgupta
Image: TwitterJournalist-turned-politician Swapan Dasgupta was earlier nominated to Rajya Sabha, but he resigned and contested unsuccessfully during the 2021 Assembly election. However, Dasgupta has been instrumental in creating the Center-right discourse in Bengal, which has been key to the party's rise in the state.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
First Published: Jul 6, 2023 5:39 PM IST
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