West Bengal By-Elections: BJP Favored as TMC Faces Infighting

Political tempers are running high in the state over the by-elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal. Given the current arithmetic of the Bengal assembly, the BJP appears to be in a strong position to win all three seats, while the infighting-ridden Trinamool Congress (TMC) is also finding it difficult to compete. The Election Commission has announced by-elections to these three Rajya Sabha seats on July 24. These seats fell vacant after the resignations of former TMC MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik. The three leaders resigned from both the Rajya Sabha membership and the Trinamool Congress last month. They had questioned the party leadership after the Trinamool's defeat in the assembly elections. Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Prakash Chik Baraik's terms were till September 2029, while Sushmita Dev's term was till April 2030. At present, the number of TMC members in the Rajya Sabha is 9. The BJP has 208 MLAs in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. If the party fields three candidates and all its MLAs vote according to the rules, then the party can win three Rajya Sabha seats.