Assam: TMC denies Rajya Sabha ticket to Sushmita Dev

Trinamool Congress (TMC) on July 10 announced six candidates for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections, however, Assam's Sushmita Dev who was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal in 2021 failed to find a place.

It is to be mentioned here that Sushmita Dev, who was the former All India Mahila Congress chief, switched over to the TMC from the Congress in August 2021. 

The Trinamool Congress had nominated Sushmita Dev to the Rajya Sabha less than a month after the former MP from Assam's Silchar left the Congress to join the party of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. 

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. 

Also Read: Assam: TMC MP Sushmita Dev stages 10-hour hunger strike protesting ECI's delimitation draft

Gokhale has been critical of the BJP-led ruling dispensation at the Centre and is currently out on bail. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained Gokhale in January of this year in connection with a case involving suspected irregularities in a crowd-funding project.

Current Rajya Sabya MP Derek O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Dola Sen, Samirul Islam, and Prakash Chik Baraik are among the other contenders identified by the TMC. 

Since 2011, Derek O'Brien has served as a TMC Rajya Sabha MP. Ray, on the other hand, is the party's deputy top whip and was first elected to the Upper House of Parliament in 2012. 

Sen, a prominent union activist and leader, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2017. Samirul Islam, the head of the Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, will now be sent to the upper house by the TMC. Prakash Chik Baraik, the district president of the TMC in Alipurduar, is also included on the list.