BJP Nominates Former Trinamool MP Koel Mallick to Rajya Sabha

A fourth former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member has been picked by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the Upper House, with Rukmini Mallick alias Koel Mallick named on Sunday (October 4, 2026).

The nomination comes after Ms. Mallick resigned from Rajya Sabha and submitted her resignation to Vice President and chairman of the Upper House C. P. Radhakrishnan on July 16, 2026.

Ms. Mallick had been elected to the Upper House by the Trinamool Congress in April this year.

BJP’s latest Rajya Sabha nomination

The BJP’s decision makes Ms. Mallick the fourth Trinamool Congress MP to be nominated to Rajya Sabha by the party after resigning from the Upper House.

Elections for 12 Rajya Sabha seats are scheduled on October 16.

The BJP had earlier nominated three former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MPs, Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Prakash Chik Baraik, to the Upper House of Parliament on July 9, 2026.

The three were nominated hours after they joined the BJP in Kolkata.

Unlike the three MPs, Ms. Mallick did not officially join the BJP, according to the source.

However, after resigning from Rajya Sabha, she had met BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Debate over former Trinamool leaders

The nomination of former Trinamool Congress MPs to Rajya Sabha has sparked a debate about the “Trinamoolisation of the BJP”.

A section of BJP leaders has said that the party was accommodating people who had fought against the BJP before it came to power in WB.

The latest nomination therefore adds to an ongoing discussion within the party over the induction and accommodation of former Trinamool Congress leaders.

Published - October 04, 2026 02:14 pm IST

Source: The Hindu