Sukhendu, Sushmita and Prakash Chik elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed

In a swift turn of events in West Bengal politics, former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik were elected to the Rajya Sabha completely unopposed. The three seasoned politicians recently switched their political allegiances to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Given the current legislative numbers, their return to the Upper House of Parliament was a straightforward mathematical certainty.

The bypolls were necessitated after these three leaders resigned from their respective parliamentary seats and severed their ties with the Trinamool Congress. Following the shifting landscape in the West Bengal Assembly, where the BJP maintains a commanding strength of over 200 legislators while the opposition bench remains fragmented, the ruling party successfully cleared the path for its newly inducted nominees. Because no other alternative political factions managed to field valid candidates against them for these specific vacant seats, the need for actual voting has been completely bypassed.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and BJP State President Samik Bhattacharya personally accompanied the trio during the official filing process to mark the political milestone. Meanwhile, another Ex-TMC MP Koel Mallick also vacated her seat, and speculations are ripe that she will hop on a similar wagon to join the BJP.