BJP Sweeps All Three West Bengal Rajya Sabha Seats Unopposed

India: In a significant political development, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has secured all three vacant Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal without any contest, with its candidates, Sushmita Dev, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, and Prakash Chik Baraik, elected unopposed.

The trio, who recently defected from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after resigning from the Upper House, formally joined the BJP earlier this month. Hours after their induction, the party fielded them as candidates for the bypolls scheduled for July 24. With the BJP’s dominant majority in the West Bengal Assembly following its landslide victory in the state elections, no other parties put up candidates, leading to their unopposed victory.

This win marks a major boost for the BJP, elevating its strength in the Rajya Sabha to 117 seats. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) now commands 152 seats in the Upper House, moving closer to the two-thirds majority mark required for key constitutional amendments.

Political analysts view the outcome as a direct fallout of the TMC’s internal turmoil and the BJP’s strengthened position in the 294-member state legislature, where it holds over 200 seats. The vacancies arose after the three former TMC leaders resigned from the Rajya Sabha last month amid differences with the party leadership following the Assembly poll debacle.

The development further consolidates the NDA’s upper hand in Parliament as it inches towards the numerical strength needed to push through major legislative reforms.