Three former Trinamool Congress MPs join BJP, nominated to Rajya Sabha

Samik Bhattacharya welcomed Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Prakash Chik Baraik by handing them BJP flags during a program attended by senior state officials at the party’s Salt Lake office. Photo credit: X/ANI

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday (July 9, 2026) nominated three former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MPs Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Prakash Chik Baraik to the Upper House of Parliament, hours after the three former MPs joined the BJP in Kolkata.

Earlier in the day, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya welcomed the three former MPs by handing over the BJP flag to them at the party office. Following the Trinamool Congress’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls, three Rajya Sabha MPs who were nominated by party president Mamata Banerjee resigned from Parliament.

Ms Dev, Mr Ray and Mr Baraik joined the BJP days before the July 24 by-polls to three Rajya Sabha seats in the state.

Moment of happiness: BJP

“Three former MPs have taken a stand and resigned from the Rajya Sabha. It is a moment of happiness for us. We welcome them wholeheartedly,” Mr Bhattacharya said.

With the BJP having 208 legislators in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly and Trinamool Congress MLAs divided into two camps, their election to the upper house is only a matter of time.

Ms Dev, a prominent leader from Assam who quit the Congress to join the Trinamool Congress in 2021, said the BJP was a national party and whether it would be re-nominated to the Rajya Sabha or not would be decided by its high command. Mr. Ray, a three-term Rajya Sabha MP and former party chief who was one of Mamata Banerjee’s key parliamentary faces, resigned from the Rajya Sabha and as a party member after the Trinamool lost power in West Bengal.

Mr. Ray met Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his recent visit to Kolkata. Mr. Baraik, who hails from Alipurduar, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2023 by the Trinamool Congress.

#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: After joining the BJP, former TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev says, “Bharatiya Janata Party is a national party… So I am not expecting a Rajya Sabha seat here, but I am here as an outgoing MP from Bengal.” pic.twitter.com/lXw6LFASG1

— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2026

Just after securing victory in the assembly polls, Mr Bhattacharya said that several Trinamool leaders wanted to join the BJP but that “the party’s door was closed to them”. “There will be no Trinamoolization of the BJP,” the state BJP president said.

The latest development comes as 20 Lok Sabha MPs from the Trinamool Congress have left the party to join the little-known Nationalist Civic Party of India (NCPI). Among the Trinamool MLAs elected to the assembly recently, most of them joined the rebel faction and broke with Mamata Banerjee.

Published – 9 Jul 2026 18:33 IST