Kolkata, July 14:
Three BJP nominees – Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik – filed nomination papers on Monday for the Rajya Sabha bypolls in West Bengal, with the saffron party defending its decision to field the TMC turncoats despite its earlier pledge not to induct leaders from the Trinamool Congress.
The otherwise routine nominations for the July 24 Rajya Sabha bypolls highlighted a visible shift in the BJP’s post-assembly election approach, with the party now selectively accommodating opposition leaders it considers politically valuable instead of adhering to its earlier blanket resistance to former TMC functionaries.
Ahead of filing the nominations, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya met the three candidates in the CM’s chamber in the assembly before accompanying them to the returning officer.
The vacancies arose after Ray, Dev and Baraik resigned from both the Rajya Sabha and the TMC following the Assembly election. They joined the BJP on July 9 and were named the party’s RS nominees within hours, ensuring an immediate parliamentary comeback.