The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has announced its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, springing a few surprises with a list that blends political heavyweights, administrative experience, legal expertise and a prominent face from the film industry.
The party has nominated former union minister Babul Supriyo, former West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, senior Supreme Court lawyer Menaka Guruswamy and Tollywood actor Koel Mallick as its representatives to the Upper House.
The new list reflects the party’s attempt to combine political experience with expertise from law enforcement, the judiciary and the entertainment world. Party leaders said the nominees would carry forward Trinamool’s tradition of “tolerance” and “resistance” in Parliament and strengthen its commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of citizens.
Supriyo’s nomination brings an end to weeks of speculation about his political future. The former Asansol MP, who left the BJP and joined the Trinamool in 2021, later won the Ballygunge Assembly by-election and emerged as one of the party’s prominent faces. There had been discussions within the party over whether he would be fielded again from Ballygunge in the upcoming Assembly elections. With his name now cleared for the Rajya Sabha, the party is expected to nominate a different candidate from the constituency with senior leader Shobhandeb Chatterjee’s name doing the rounds in political circles.
The inclusion of Rajeev Kumar is being viewed as a politically significant move. His professional relationship with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has long been a subject of public and political discussion, particularly during the investigations into the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund cases. When the CBI moved against him in connection with the Saradha probe and visited his residence in Kolkata, Mamata publicly protested, accusing the Centre of targeting him for political reasons. She staged a high-profile dharna in the city and described Kumar as one of the finest officers, framing the episode as an attack on the federal structure.
Despite sustained criticism from opposition parties and the prolonged legal battle, the state government continued to back Kumar. He headed the Special Investigation Team in the Saradha case and later held key positions, including Commissioner of Police, Kolkata and Director General of Police before being moved during the enforcement of election rules. When Kumar approached the Supreme Court over the CBI’s action, the state government stood by him with the Chief Minister repeatedly alleging political vendetta.
The nomination of Menaka Guruswamy is seen as an effort to bolster the party’s legal strength in Parliament. As a senior advocate who has appeared in significant constitutional matters before the Supreme Court, her presence in the Rajya Sabha is expected to enhance the Trinamool’s interventions on legal and federal issues at the national level.
Perhaps the most unexpected name on the list is that of Koel Mallick, daughter of veteran actor Ranjit Mallick. Her nomination comes shortly after Trinamool’s All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee visited Ranjit Mallick’s residence for a meeting that drew considerable attention. The interaction, during which party policies were reportedly discussed in detail, had already sparked speculation about a possible political role for the Mallick family.
Political observers believe Koel Mallick’s entry into the Rajya Sabha signals the party’s continued strategy of drawing influential figures from the entertainment world into parliamentary politics. With a candidate list that spans politics, policing, law and cinema, the Trinamool appears to have crafted a carefully calibrated line-up aimed at strengthening its voice in the Upper House ahead of crucial political battles.
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