"We are pleased to announce the candidature of Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar (Former DGP, West Bengal), Menaka Guruswamy and Koel Mallick for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
"We extend our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to them. May they continue to uphold Trinamool’s enduring legacy of resilience and its unwavering commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of every Indian," the Trinamool Congress tweeted.
As it stands, the BJP-led NDA has 133 MPs in the 245-member Rajya Sabha, with the Lotus party itself accounting for 103 seats.
The BJP keen for 20 more to touch the 123-seat majority mark.
If elected, Menaka Guruswamy will be India's first MP from the LGBTQ community.
Rajeev Kumar is well known as a person whom the Trinamool chief trusts.
He is among those named by the Enforcement Directorate in the Supreme Court for allegedly disrupting the agency’s raids on Trinamool poll consultant I-PAC in Kolkata in January along with chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
In 2019, Mamata had led a sit-in to prevent the CBI from questioning Kumar, then the Calcutta police commissioner, in connection with highly controversial cases.
Rajeev Kumar had undergone 44 hours of interrogation by the CBI in Shillong between Feb 9 to 13, 2019. However, the CBI on April 5, 2019, filed an application seeking a modification of the court's order granting interim protection from arrest to Rajeev Kumar. The CBI had said custodial interrogation of Rajeev Kumar was necessary in view of his alleged non-cooperation and evasive replies to the CBI.
The episode was triggered after a CBI team reached the Kolkata police commissioner's residence in the night of February 3, 2019, to 'examine' him but was detained. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had rushed to the commissioner's house and after a marathon meeting with all senior police officials, announced a dharna against "the blatant use of central police agencies" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then BJP national president Amit Shah.
The BJP criticised Rajeev Kumar’s nomination. State unit president Samik Bhattacharya says: “Mamata Banerjee can nominate him, but if Rajeev Kumar accepts the nomination, it would prove that he worked for political reasons during his tenure as DGP, not as an administrator.
The people of Bengal will now clearly understand how he used the police system politically.”
BJP leader Agnimitra Paul said: "DGP Rajeev Kumar, who is an accused in the Saradha case, is being sent to the Rajya Sabha.
"This is a very shocking development. We have often said that Mamata Banerjee supports anti-social elements who work against the public, but Rajeev Kumar is not a criminal. Yet, he is not entirely a clean person either.
Sending him to the Rajya Sabha, a key institution of parliamentary democracy. If Rajeev Kumar speaks out, it could create serious trouble for her..."
Actress Koyel Mallik is another nominee of the ruling party in West Bengal and the Rajya Sabha polls will be held on March 16 across 10 states.
Elections will be held for 37 seats in the Upper House of Parliament. Saket Gokhale, Ritabrata Banerjee, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Mausam Noor and Subrata Bakshi will retire from West Bengal.
Actress Koel and father Ranjit Mallick, have always had warm relations with Mamata. Ranjit Mallick was also Calcutta sheriff in 2014-15.
Babul Supriyo represented Asansol parliamentary constituency in 2014 and 2019. In fact, he had defeated actress Moon Moon Sen in 2019.
He was also Union Minister but was dropped by PM Narendra Modi in 2021 reshuffle.
He defected to TMC later. A Trinamool source said Supriyo was facing pressure within the party after a senior minister expressed the desire to contest from Ballygunge, the seat he represents.
Nominating counsel Menaka Guruswamy was perhaps in gratitude as he had appeared on behalf of the party in Calcutta High Court in January in connection with the ED’s raids on I-PAC properties.
She had also been part of the legal battle that culminated in the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling striking down IPC Section 377, decriminalising gay sex.
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