In a fresh setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), Rajya Sabha MP and actor Koel Mallick resigned from the Upper House on Thursday, adding to the growing list of senior leaders exiting the party.
According to news agency ANI, citing sources, Mallick met Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan and formally submitted her resignation from the Rajya Sabha. The development comes barely three months after she was nominated to the Upper House by the Trinamool Congress.
Mallick's resignation follows a series of high-profile departures that have intensified the political turmoil within the party. On Wednesday, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, considered a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, quit the party and joined the rebel Trinamool faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee.
Earlier, Rajya Sabha MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik also resigned from both the Rajya Sabha and the Trinamool Congress before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The three leaders have since filed their nominations for the Rajya Sabha bypolls in West Bengal as BJP candidates.
Their induction into the BJP had drawn attention as the party had earlier maintained that it would not induct leaders from the Trinamool Congress. However, the BJP defended its decision, arguing that the leaders' experience and political standing warranted their inclusion.
With Koel Mallick becoming the fourth Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP to resign, the exodus has emerged as another significant challenge for the Mamata Banerjee-led party as it attempts to recover from its Assembly election setback and contain internal dissent.
