Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Prakash Chik Baraik joined the BJP in Kolkata as the party eyes all three Rajya Sabha bypoll seats amid the Trinamool Congress split.
July 9, 2026: Former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MPs Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Prakash Chik Baraik joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kolkata on Thursday in the presence of West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya. The three leaders, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha and the TMC last month after the party’s defeat in the assembly elections, were welcomed with BJP flags at the party’s Salt Lake office. Their Rajya Sabha terms were originally scheduled to continue until 2029 and 2030.
The Rajya Sabha bypolls for the three vacant seats are scheduled for July 24, with the BJP expressing confidence of winning all three. Bhattacharya said the experience of the former parliamentarians would strengthen the party in West Bengal. Following the 2026 assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the dominant force in the 294-member House, giving it a significant numerical advantage ahead of the bypolls.
The political arithmetic changed further after the Trinamool Congress split into rival factions led by Mamata Banerjee and Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee. With the opposition divided, neither TMC faction individually has enough legislators to secure a Rajya Sabha seat. Political observers believe the split has improved the BJP’s chances of winning all three seats, turning what was expected to be a two-one contest into a potential clean sweep.