Koel Mallick Joins BJP, Set to File Nomination for Rajya Sabha Bypoll

The BJP announced Mallick as its candidate for the by-election on Sunday. The party's state general secretary Shashi Agnihotri formally inducted her at the BJP's state headquarters in Salt Lake by handing her the party flag. BJP media department convener Anupam Ghosh and co-convener Chandrashekhar Basotia were also present.

Mallick is scheduled to submit her nomination papers at the West Bengal Assembly on Monday. The Rajya Sabha bypoll for the vacant seat will be held on October 16.

After joining the BJP, Mallick said she wanted to contribute to West Bengal's development and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party leadership for selecting her as its candidate.

She did not make any criticism of her former party, the Trinamool Congress, or its leadership.

Mallick was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the TMC earlier this year. The party had announced her candidature in February along with former West Bengal Police Director General Rajeev Kumar, former state Tourism Minister and singer Babul Supriyo, and senior Supreme Court advocate Menaka Guruswamy.

She was elected to the Upper House in the Rajya Sabha elections held in March and subsequently became a member of Parliament. However, she did not attend a session of the House during her brief tenure, according to the report.

Mallick resigned from the Rajya Sabha in July, following the resignation of several other former TMC members. Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik were among the earlier TMC Rajya Sabha members to step down and subsequently return to Parliament as BJP candidates from the seats they had vacated.

Mallick's own resignation subsequently triggered speculation over whether she would also contest the bypoll from the same seat as a BJP candidate.

The speculation intensified after she met Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan in New Delhi on July 16 to submit her resignation. She also met Union Minister Bhupender Yadav shortly after stepping down as an MP.

The BJP's decision to field Mallick has now confirmed that she will seek a return to the Rajya Sabha, this time representing the party that she formally joined on Monday.