Kolkata: BJP on Sunday picked Koel (Rukmini) Mallick as its candidate for Rajya Sabha bypoll in Bengal. Bypolls for 11 Rajya Sabha seats for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bengal are set to take place on Oct 16. Koel, earlier a Trinamool Rajya Sabha member, resigned from the Upper House on July 16, though her term was slated to run until April 2030.Reacting to Koel’s nomination, Mamata Trinamool spokesperson and Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh said, “I think neither Koel nor Ranjit Mallick did justice to their prestige (by this flip). When Didi was the chief minister, they loved Trinamool, and when BJP is in office, they lean towards them. It was Mamata Banerjee who brought both father and daughter into politics — Mallick was made the sheriff of Kolkata and Koel was made an MP. They have replicated the same model (in which Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik quit TMC, joined BJP, and retained their Rajya Sabha seats). Such actions only invite the same old question — what did Didi see in such elements?”While messages sent by TOI to Koel regarding her nomination went unanswered, veteran actor Ranjit Mallick expressed joy over his daughter’s recognition, saying: “I am moved by the gesture the state govt showed me when I attended its Uttam Kumar centenary programmes. The kind of respect the CM showed me is moving. We are all very happy for Koel too.”Her mother, Deepa Mallick, said: “A Rajya Sabha nomination is a very big thing. We are happy that she has been able to balance her career and personal life while earning this prestigious nomination. My husband and I also feel that a Rajya Sabha nomination has nothing to do with politics. We have seen stalwarts like Mrinal Sen and Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay getting nominated to the Rajya Sabha.”Sen and Bandyopadhyay, however, were members nominated by President under Article 80.Koel was the fourth Rajya Sabha MP to resign from TMC, following Ray, Dev, and Baraik, all of whom joined BJP and were later re-elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha as BJP candidates from Bengal. Given BJP’s numbers in the Bengal assembly, the outcome of Koel’s election is a foregone conclusion.Immediately after her resignation on July 16, Koel met with Union environment minister and BJP central observer for Bengal, Bhupender Yadav. Koel did not cite a reason for her resignation.Interestingly, Koel’s husband Nispal Singh was among the four who seconded Mamata Banerjee’s nomination for Bhabanipur assembly polls.
