West Bengal BJP President Samik Bhattacharya holds the party's flag as a celebration as former Trinamool Congress MPs Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, and Prakash Chik Baraik join the BJP, in Kolkata on Thursday
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Three former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MPs – Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik — joined the BJP on Thursday.The three leaders had resigned from the Rajya Sabha and quit Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress last month amid a wave of defections that followed the party’s crushing defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections.The trio were inducted into the BJP in the presence of state party president Samik Bhattacharya, who welcomed the former TMC leaders by presenting them with BJP flags during an event attended by senior party leaders in Kolkata.Speaking on the occasion, Bhattacharya said Ray, Dev and Baraik are stalwarts whose performance in the Rajya Sabha is well-known. Their parliamentary expertise and experience will reinforce the BJP in West Bengal, strengthen the organisation and help the party expand its reach across the State.“For 34 years, there was the rule of the Left Front, followed by that of the Trinamool Congress. The politics practised in Bengal for so long defied and rejected our federal structure. Instead of cooperating with the Centre, a path of confrontation was adopted, causing all development to stall. Against this backdrop, and placing their faith in the leadership of Narendra Modi, three MPs resigned from the Trinamool Congress. Today, these three—Sushmita Dev, Prakash Chik Baraik and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy—joined the Bharatiya Janata Party,” Bhattacharya said.Notably, the Election Commission on Monday announced that the Rajya Sabha bypolls for the three seats from West Bengal will be conducted on July 24. The former Trinamool Congress MPs joining the BJP is expected to further strengthen the saffron party’s position in Bengal and increase its strength in the Upper House of Parliament.The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is reeling under the rebellion with over 60 of the party’s 80 MLAs breaking away.Last week, a full Bench of the Election Commission met the rebel faction of the party led by Ritabrata Banerjee. The Mamata Banerjee side of the party, however, questioned the poll body’s decision to grant an audience to the rebel faction, alleging that the meeting violated the EC’s own procedures of granting appointments to only authorised signatories of a recognised political party.The rebel TMC MLAs removed party founder and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from the post of chairperson at a meeting held in Kolkata on June 22. Former Minister Arup Roy was unanimously picked as the new chairperson of the Trinamool Congress.Riding on a massive anti-incumbency wave against the erstwhile Trinamool Congress government, the BJP recorded a historic landslide victory in the Assembly elections held in April. The saffron party won 208 seats, reducing the TMC to just 80 in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly.Published on July 9, 2026
