Popular Bengali film actor and former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Koel Mallick on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a day after being named the party’s candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election.
Koel Mallick joined the BJP at the party’s state headquarters in Kolkata. She is also set to file her nomination for the Upper House seat she had vacated as a TMC MP in July. “It would be an honour for me to become a member of the Upper House of Parliament and get a chance to work for the welfare of the people,” Mallick told reporters after joining the BJP.
The actor-turned-politician said she wanted to contribute to the development initiatives undertaken by the BJP government in Bengal and work towards creating opportunities that would encourage people to stay in the state. She also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for choosing her as the BJP’s Rajya Sabha candidate.
Responding to criticism over her switch from TMC to BJP, Koel Mallick said, “They are making such rude comments possibly because of their own vexations. I have no anger against them.”
She also said that the government’s efforts to generate employment could help address what she described as the growing “toxicity” on social media. “The root cause of increasing toxicity on social media is lack of work among the people,” she said.
On her brief association with the TMC, Mallick said political parties had their own ways of functioning. “Every party has its own ways of working and doing good. I feel enormously proud and privileged that I am now in a party which has undertaken welfare works for people in West Bengal in the past few months,” she said.
Daughter of veteran actor Ranjit Mallick, Koel Mallick’s political journey began earlier this year when the TMC named her, along with Babul Supriyo, former Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar and Supreme Court advocate Menaka Guruswamy, as its Rajya Sabha candidates on February 27.
She took oath as a Rajya Sabha MP on April 6. Although she was not contesting the Assembly election, Mallick subsequently became one of TMC’s prominent star campaigners. She campaigned across Bengal, including roadshows and public meetings in support of TMC candidates.
She resigned from the Rajya Sabha on July 16, shortly after the TMC’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections. She had served in the Upper House for just over three months and, according to reports, had not attended a single session. Her resignation triggered speculation about a possible move to the BJP, particularly after she met Union minister Bhupender Yadav soon after submitting her resignation.
The speculation has now materialised. The BJP on Sunday named Mallick as its candidate for the October 16 Rajya Sabha by-election in Bengal, the very seat she had vacated as a TMC MP. The election was necessitated by her resignation.
