BJP veteran Tathagata Roy says party workers are upset that former Trinamool leaders are being sent to the Rajya Sabha. Actor Koel Mallick is among the latest nominees.
Discontent has surfaced within the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the nomination of former All India Trinamool Congress (AITC or Trinamool) figures to the Rajya Sabha, veteran BJP leader and former Tripura governor Tathagata Roy said.
The latest case is actor and politician Koel Mallick, also known as Rukmini Mallick, whom the BJP nominated for an Upper House seat. She had previously served as a Trinamool MP in the Rajya Sabha, resigned in July and formally joined the BJP on Monday before filing her nomination papers for the by-election.
Roy wrote on social media that BJP workers in West Bengal who had suffered violence at the hands of Trinamool supporters could see the nominations as favouring new entrants over long-time party members. He named Sukhendu Shekhar Ray, Koel Mallick, Prakash Chik Baraik and Susmita Dev. Roy said he was speaking as a BJP worker and an RSS volunteer with more than 35 years in the movement, despite being retired and living in the United States.
West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya rejected the term “Trinamoolisation” of the party, saying it referred to the functioning of the state government rather than the BJP. Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh noted that the Mallick family had previously supported Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
By-elections for 12 Rajya Sabha seats are scheduled for October 16.