Actor Koel Mallick Quits Trinamool's Rajya Sabha, Fourth MP to Leave in Months

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and actor Koel Mallick resigned from the Upper House of Parliament on Thursday, three months after being nominated by the party, according to official sources.

Ms. Mallick, a well-known Bengali film actor, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April this year. Her resignation comes as the fourth such departure from the party's Rajya Sabha contingent in recent months.

Three other Trinamool Rajya Sabha MPs—Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik—had resigned earlier. All three have since joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), though Ms. Mallick has not announced any political affiliation following her resignation.

The resignations occur in the aftermath of the Trinamool Congress's defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections held in May 2021, where the party lost power to a coalition led by the BJP. However, the party remains a major force in West Bengal politics.

Trinamool Congress leaders have not commented on Ms. Mallick's resignation. Party sources said the resignation has been accepted and that the party will propose a replacement for the Rajya Sabha seat.

Ms. Mallick's tenure was brief, and her resignation adds to the churn in the Rajya Sabha representation of the party. The development is part of ongoing political realignments in West Bengal following the assembly polls.