Actor Koel Mallick Quits Rajya Sabha Months After Being Picked By Trinamool

A shock poll defeat, rebellion in the ranks, desertions: Mamata Banerjee's horrid summer continues.

Actor-turned-politician Koel Mallick, who took oath as Rajya Sabha member on April 6, decided to quit as MP on Thursday, delivering another body blow to the Trinamool's strength in the Upper House.

"I do hereby resign from the membership of Rajya Sabha, which may please be accepted with immediate effect," she said in her letter to CP Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Rajya Sabha. 

Mallick, one of Trinamool's celebrity nominees to the Rajya Sabha, was picked by Mamata Banerjee in February. She had submitted her nomination on March 5, alongside Supreme Court lawyer Menaka Guruswamy and former IPS officer Rajeev Kumar.

She, however, did not attend a single sitting of parliament.

One of Bengal's best-known film stars and the daughter of veteran actor Ranjit Mallick, Koel entered active politics only a month before being nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Her nomination was viewed as part of Banerjee's practice of bringing prominent public figures into parliament.

"This is a new phase of my life, and I seek everyone's blessings for the responsibility I am about to shoulder. Serving the people and the country was in my mind for some time, and I am fortunate to have received that opportunity," she had said after filing her nomination.

Political observers have linked Koel's exit to the broader churn within the party after its loss of power in Bengal.

The resignation comes just days before the Monsoon Session of parliament begins - on July 20.

Earlier, three Trinamool MPs - Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik - resigned their Rajya Sabha seats and joined the BJP. On Monday, they filed thier nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls in Bengal.

Besides the Rajya Sabha, the party's strength in Lok Sabha, too, has shrunk drastically after 20 rebel MPs broke away from the Trinamool to merge with the lesser-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and pledged support to the BJP-led NDA.

"Koel Mallick is not an organic political leader. She gained lateral entry into politics in the wake of her proximity to the Trinamool's top leadership. Shortly afterwards, we saw her getting nominated to Rajya Sabha. She was nowhere to be found after she became an MP," BJP Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya said, responding to the development.

Trinamool MP and Mamata Banerjee loyalist Kalyan Banerjee called the spate of exits "a new tactic adopted by the BJP to increase their strength in both Houses of parliament by any means possible".

"Earlier, three members resigned, but Koel Mallick did not resign with them. Had all four resigned together, the Rajya Sabha election for all four vacancies would have been held simultaneously, and the BJP would not have won in one seat. That is why the resignations were staggered," he maintained.

"After the Rajya Sabha elections got over, Koel Mallick was brought in because there is now a single fresh vacancy. It is a safe political strategy for the BJP," he added.