Trinamool Congress names Derek O’Brien Saket Gokhale for Rajya Sabha Polls

Trinamool Congress names
Derek O’Brien Saket Gokhale for Rajya Sabha Polls

The newcomers on the list were Bangla Sanskriti Mancha president Samirul Islam, TMC’s Alipurduar district president Prakash Chik Baraik, and RTI activist and TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale.

Ahead of the West Bengal Polls this month, the Trinamool Congress on Monday made an announcement of its candidates for the six Rajya Sabha seats.

Amid these candidates are Derek O’Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Dola Sen. O’Brien who has been an MP since 2011, is the TMC’s leader in Rajya Sabha, whereas Ray who was first sent to the Upper House of Parliament in 2012 is the deputy chief whip, and Sen, a senior leader and trade unionist, who became an MP in 2017.

The newcomers on the list are Bangla Sanskriti Mancha president Samirul Islam, TMC’s Alipurduar district president Prakash Chik Baraik, and RTI activist and TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale.

Apart, O’Brien, Ray, and Sen, the tenures of Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya, TMC’s Assam leader Sushmita Dev and its Darjeeling leader Shanta Chhetri’s ended, following which these six seats fell vacant.

A seventh Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal is also vacant following former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro’s resignation as a TMC MP in April. A by-poll will be held in that seat along with the elections to these six seats on July 24.

The TMC has 216 MLAs in the 294-member assembly and enjoys the support of five BJP MLAs, who switched over to the ruling party but are yet to resign from the House. The BJP has a strength of 70 in the assembly.

Amidst these seats from West Bengal, elections will be held for four Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat and Goa.

According to practice, the counting of votes will take place at 5 pm on July 24 itself, an hour after the conclusion of the poll process.

News input KV Raman