The Great Switch: Ex-TMC Trio Returns to Rajya Sabha Race on BJP Tickets

In Indian politics, party affiliations can change far more quickly than parliamentary tenures. Just weeks after resigning from the Rajya Sabha as Trinamool Congress (TMC) members, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik are set to return to the Upper House this time under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) banner.

The three leaders filed their nomination papers on Monday before the Returning Officer at the West Bengal Assembly for the Rajya Sabha bypolls scheduled on July 24 .

The vacancies themselves were created by the trio's resignations from both the Rajya Sabha and the TMC following the party's defeat in the recent Assembly elections. They joined the BJP on July 9 and were declared the party's Rajya Sabha candidates within hours, completing one of the quickest political transitions from resignation to renomination in recent memory.

The episode reflects a familiar feature of contemporary Indian politics, where electoral mandates may change governments, but individual political careers often find new pathways. Leaders who leave one party are increasingly finding space in another, particularly when they bring electoral experience, organisational value or legislative expertise.

The BJP's decision also marks its first major induction of former TMC leaders since the Assembly elections. The move is seen as signalling that the party's post-poll reluctance to induct Trinamool leaders will not apply to those it considers politically credible and free from allegations of corruption.

The bypoll process itself is straightforward but often misunderstood. Unlike direct elections, Rajya Sabha members are elected by Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) through the system of proportional representation using the single transferable vote . Because these are three separate bypolls , each vacancy is treated as an independent election rather than a combined contest. As a result, every candidate must individually secure the required quota of MLA votes.

That arithmetic heavily favours the BJP. With 207 MLAs in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly , the party comfortably exceeds the 147-vote threshold needed in each contest, placing all three candidates on course for election unless there is unexpected cross-voting or abstention.

Should they win, Ray, Dev and Baraik will return to the very chamber they vacated barely a month ago only with different party colours, different benches and a different whip. In an era where political migration has become almost routine, the journey from one party to another appears to be getting shorter than the journey out of Parliament itself.