The Trinamool Congress on Sunday sprung a surprise as it named Delhi-based journalist Sagarika Ghose as one of its candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections from West Bengal.
The other candidates are Sushmita Dev, Mohammad Nadimul Haque, and Matua leader Mamata Bala Thakur. Elections to the five Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal will be held on February 27.
The seats fell vacant after the completion of terms of five MPs. They are Mohammed Nadimul Haque, Subhasish Chakraborty, Abir Ranjan Biswas, and Santanu Sen of the Trinamool and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal with the support of the Trinamool Congress.
The Trinamool has renominated Mr. Haque,who is the owner of the popular Urdu daily Akbar-E- Mashriq.
Though the nomination of Ms. Ghose came as a surprise to the Trinamool rank and file, party chairperson Mamata Banerjee is known to make such choices for the Rajya Sabha. Last year, the Trinamool nominated RTI activist Saket Gokhale to the Upper House.
Among the Trinamool picks for the February 27 election, Sushmita Dev is an interesting pick. Ms. Dev resigned from the Congress in August 2021 and was briefly nominated by the Trinamool to the Rajya Sabha. The former MP is crucial to the Trinamool’s plans in the Northeast, especially Assam.
The Trinamool leadership has also tried to reach out to the Matua community by nominating Mamata Bala Thakur. She hails from the family which is believed to the founder of the Matua sect, which has significant followers in south Bengal. A two-time Lok Sabha MP, Ms. Thakur faced defeat in the Matua-dominated Bongaon seat to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Shantanu Thakur, a relative, in 2019. This nomination also comes at a time when the BJP is promising the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act before the polls. The CAA is an emotive issue for the Matua community and the support of the community may be crucial to win the Bongaon Lok Sabha seat.
The BJP has nominated party spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya to the Rajya Sabha. Mr. Bhattacharya has also represented the BJP in West Bengal Assembly.
With the support of more than 213 members in the West Bengal Assembly, the Trinamool Congress will be able to elect four of its nominees. The BJP had won 77 seats in 2021 but more than half dozen of MLAs have defected to Trinamool Congress since then. Going by the strength in the Assembly, out of the five Rajya Sabha seats, the Trinamool will comfortably claim four, while the BJP will secure the fifth seat.
