TMC announces names of candidates for Rajya Sabha elections

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday announced the names of four of its candidates for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

The Mamata Banerjee-led party announced Sagarika Ghose, Sushmita Dev, Nadimul Haque and Mamata Bala Thakur as its candidates for election to the Upper House of the Parliament.

The party wrote on X: “We are pleased to announce the candidature of @sagarikaghose, @SushmitaDevAITC, @MdNadimulHaque6 and Mamata Bala Thakur for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections. We extend our heartfelt wishes to them and may they work towards upholding Trinamool’s enduring legacy of indomitable spirit and advocacy for the rights of every Indian.”

Md. Nadimul Haque is one of the prominent Muslim faces in TMC and is a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha representing the party. Following the announcement, he said he is grateful to his party’s chairperson Mamata Banerjee and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for giving him this opportunity for the third time. He said his responsibility towards the people have further increased and hopes he will be able to meet their expectations.

Mamata Bala Thakur, from the Matua community, is another influential leader in the party and has earlier represented the Bangaon Constituency in the Parliament.

Sushmita Dev is a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha while Sagarika Ghose is a journalist and author of several books.

It was learnt that Rajya Sabha is all set for elections to its 56 seats on 27 February. The elections will be conducted for seats across 15 states of India including five from West Bengal.

Presently the BJP holds the highest number of seats in Rajya Sabha which is 93, followed by the Congress party with 30 seats. The Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam each hold 13, 10, and 10 seats respectively, among others.