In a big political development, three former Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MPs of the party Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Shekhar Roy and Prakash Chik Baraik have joined BJP and have been selected as BJP candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
The move comes weeks after the trio resigned from both the TMC and their Rajya Sabha seats. The bypolls for the vacant seats will be held on 24th of July.
BJP's strategy to strengthen Rajya Sabha numbers.
The BJP wasted little time after appointing the three leaders to the party and making them official candidates for the same Rajya Sabha seats they had vacated.
The BJP's attempts to weaken the TMC are expected to continue, sources say. Rukmini Mallick, another TMC Rajya Sabha MP, has also submitted her resignation via email to the Rajya Sabha Chairman and is expected to formally hand it over in person soon.
And two more TMC Rajya Sabha MPs could join the BJP in the coming weeks according to sources.
'Good TMC, Bad TMC' Theory.
The induction of former TMC leaders marks a change in stance from the BJP that refused to admit leaders from the Trinamool Congress over corruption and political violence.
However, the BJP president Samik Bhattacharya described the latest entrants as an “exception” in the West Bengal BJP.
He also reiterated the party's “good TMC, bad TMC” approach, and said that the BJP would welcome what he called “bhalo” (good) TMC leaders in the party.
How the Rajya Sabha numbers change
Before the resignations, the TMC had 13 members in the Rajya Sabha.
Since a formal split under anti-defection provisions would require the support of at least nine MPs, the BJP has instead adopted a strategy of encouraging individual resignations before fielding the leaders again on its own symbol.
If all three BJP candidates are elected on July 24, the party's strength in the Rajya Sabha will rise to 117, its highest-ever tally in the Upper House.
The BJP would then be just six seats short of the simple majority of 123.
With seven nominated members and three Independent members - Parimal Nathwani, Kartikeya Sharma and Dilip Ray - the BJP-backed tally would rise to 127, crossing the simple majority line.
By including 26 NDA allies, the alliance's total strength would increase to 153, 11 seats short of the two-thirds majority of 164.
Political Battle Also Shifts to Lok Sabha
The BJP is also pursuing a separate strategy in the Lok Sabha.
According to the report, 20 of 28 Lok Sabha MPs of TMC have broken away and announced a merger with the Nationalist Congress Party of India (NCPI) and have the support of the NDA. It is under consideration at the Speaker's approval.
If approved, it would further weaken the TMC in Parliament, but the NDA would still be short of two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha.
Mamata Banerjee Facing Challenges on multiple fronts.
The political developments have created new challenges for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
In the state Assembly, a rebel faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has claimed to be the “real TMC” with 60 MLAs now believed to have split up. The Speaker of the Assembly has declared Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition and the faction has approached the Election Commission requesting to be recognized as the official Trinamool Congress.
Meanwhile, the TMC has also written to the Lok Sabha Speaker, arguing that the rebel MPs should be disqualified and challenging the legality of their proposed merger.
The next weeks will see a parallel legal and political battle in both Parliament and West Bengal as the TMC seeks control of its organisation and legislative power.
