ECI declares RS bypolls in West Bengal

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced bypolls on July 24 to three Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal, which were vacated following the resignation of three former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs last month. The BJP is likely to emerge as the clear favourite to win all three seats. These polls will boost the tally of the BJP in the Upper House of the Parliament and bring the NDA close to the two-thirds mark.

The bypolls, scheduled for July 24, were necessitated by the resignations of former TMC Rajya Sabha MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik, who quit both the Upper House and the party in June following the party’s defeat in the Assembly elections.

The terms of Roy and Baraik were due to run till September 2029, while Dev’s tenure was to continue till April 2030. The TMC’s present strength in the Rajya Sabha is nine.

The ECI announced the schedule for the bypolls, starting with the nominations from Tuesday till July 14, followed by scrutiny of nominations on July 15 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature on July 17. Polling would be held from 9 am to 4 pm in the West Bengal Assembly on July 24, after which counting of votes would start from 5 pm that day.

With the BJP holding 208 seats in the 294-member Assembly, the numbers overwhelmingly favour the saffron camp. If it fields three candidates and its legislators vote along party lines, the party can comfortably secure around 70, 69 and 69 votes for its nominees respectively, making victory in all three contests a distinct possibility.

The Mamata Banerjee camp sought to play down the significance of the possible Rajya Sabha setback, arguing that the vacancies were a consequence of “betrayal” by leaders who deserted the party during crisis.

“These seats belonged to the TMC and were won on the strength of the party in the last assembly election. A few individuals chose to desert the party after the results. The people of Bengal are watching who stood with them and who abandoned them at a difficult moment,” a senior leader aligned with the Mamata Banerjee faction said.

The rebel camp, however, maintained that the resignations reflected a broader crisis of confidence in the party’s leadership.