Trinamool Congress spokesperson who has been facing several cases including one related to alleged money laundering has been named among one of the six candidates for Rajya Sabha polls from West Bengal. Gokhale has been critical of the BJP-led ruling dispensation at the Centre and is currently out on bail. Gokhale was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in January this year in a case linked to alleged irregularities in a crowd-funding initiative.
Among other candidates named by the TMC are incumbent Rajya Sabya MP Derek O’Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Dola Sen, Samirul Islam and Prakash Chik Baraik. Derek O’Brien is a TMC Rajya Sabha MP since 2011. On the other hand, Ray was first sent to the Upper House of Parliament in 2012 and is the deputy chief whip of the party. Sen, a senior leader and trade unionist, became a Rajya Sabha MP in 2017.
The TMC has this time decided to send Bangla Sanskriti Mancha president Samirul Islam to the upper house. TMC’s Alipurduar district president Prakash Chik Baraik has also been featured on the list. According to PTI, besides O’Brien, Ray and Sen, the tenures of Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya, TMC’s Assam leader Sushmita Dev and its Darjeeling leader Shanta Chhetri have ended, following which these six seats fell vacant.
“We take great pleasure in announcing the candidatures of Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Sukhendu Sekhar, Samirul Islam, Prakash Chik Baraik and Saket Gokhale for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections. May they persist in their dedication to serving the people and uphold Trinamool’s enduring legacy of indomitable spirit and advocacy for the RIGHTS OF EVERY INDIAN. We extend our heartfelt wishes to all,” the party tweeted from its official handle on Monday morning,” said TMC in a tweet.
TMC is the ruling party in West Bengal with 216 MLAs in the 294-member assembly. It also enjoys the support of five BJP MLAs, who switched over to the ruling party but are yet to resign from the House. The BJP has a strength of 70 in the assembly. The voting for the Rajya Sabha seats will be held on July 24 and the counting of votes will take place at 5 pm on the same day itself, an hour after the conclusion of the poll process.
Bureau Report
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