TMC wins four of five Rajya Sabha seats from Bengal uncontested

Kolkata: Five Rajya Sabha candidates from Bengal — four from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and one from the BJP received their winning certificates on Monday.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Babul Supriyo, former Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, and actor Koel Mallick received their winning certificates in person, while senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, who was currently in Delhi, was unable to come down to the city to collect the certificate in person.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Aroop Biswas received the certificate on her behalf. With a number of MLAs stacked in its favour in the Bengal Assembly, TMC won all four of the five Rajya Sabha seats from the state uncontested. Similarly, going by its numerical strength as the principal Opposition, the BJP’s candidate Rahul Sinha bagged one seat for which it had filed a nomination. All of them are now Rajya Sabha members-elect. Speaking to reporters after receiving the winning certificate, Supriyo said he would “give 100 per cent to voice the issues faced by West Bengal as an opposition member in Rajya Sabha”.