Kolkata: Actor-turned-politician Koel Mallick was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate on Friday, months after resigning from the Upper House as a Trinamool Congress (TMC) nominee.
Election Commission sources said no other candidate remained in the contest for the West Bengal seat. The West Bengal Assembly secretary handed Mallick her certificate of election on Friday, the last date for withdrawing nominations for the bypoll scheduled for October 16.
Mallick, whose full name is Rukmini Mallick, had resigned from the Rajya Sabha in July, barely 3 months after being elected as a TMC representative. Her resignation necessitated the bypoll.
From TMC to BJP
Mallick was among four TMC candidates elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in April, ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. The other three were Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar and Menaka Guruswamy.
She resigned from the Upper House on July 16 following the TMC’s defeat in the Assembly elections earlier this year.
Mallick subsequently met BJP national general secretary Sunil Bansal, who is also the party’s observer for West Bengal. The BJP announced her candidature for the Rajya Sabha bypoll on October 4.
She formally joined the BJP the following day and filed her nomination as the party’s candidate.
While filing her nomination, Mallick said she wanted to work for the people.
The bypoll was required because Mallick resigned before completing her Rajya Sabha term. With no other candidate remaining in the contest, she was declared elected unopposed without a vote.
Her return to the Upper House as a BJP member follows a change in party affiliation within a few months of her first election to the Rajya Sabha.
