In another blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, actor Koel Mallick resigned as the party’s Rajya Sabha MP on Thursday, just three months after the party nominated her to the Upper House of Parliament. Koel Mallick is Trinamool’s fourth Rajya Sabha MP to quit amid the meltdown in the party in the aftermath of its defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls in May. Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik, who resigned earlier, have joined the BJP. Hours later, the BJP nominated the trio for the election to the three seats they vacated.
Koel Mallick, whose legal name is Rukmini Mallick, took the oath as a Rajya Sabha MP on April 6, but did not attend House proceedings at all. Mallick has submitted a resignation letter to the Rajya Sabha chairman and Vice President C P Radhakrishnan. In the letter, she has said she was resigning from the Rajya Sabha with immediate effect. “I convey my sincere gratitude to your Excellency, Hon’ble Deputy Chairman and all functionaries of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat extending all help and cooperation during my tenure as a Member of the Rajya Sabha,” she added.
Shortly after, she met Union Minister and BJP veteran Bhupender Yadav at his residence in Delhi, sparking a buzz about her next move.
A popular face in the Bengali film industry, also known as Tollywood, Koel Mallick is the daughter of veteran Bengali film actor Ranjit Mallick and Deepa Mallick. She married film producer Nispal Singh in 2013, and they have a son. She has won several awards for her performances in movies. These include a Filmfare Awards Bangla, two Bengali Film Journalists’ Association awards and an Anandalok Puraskar. In 2023, the West Bengal government, then under the Trinamool Congress, honoured her with the Mahanayak Samman.
Following her exit, the Trinamool Congress is left with nine MPs in the Rajya Sabha. The party is simultaneously fighting an exodus in the two Houses of Parliament, and the state Assembly. Twenty out of its 28 Lok Sabha MPs have switched to the lesser-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India and have said they back the NDA. The rebel MPs’ bloc has also urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to make separate seating arrangements for them. In the Assembly, a group of 60 MLAs from the Mamata Banerjee-led party has rebelled and claimed it is the real Trinamool Congress.
The resignation of Koel Mallick is significant against the backdrop of the BJP’s attempts to cobble together a two-third majority in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha before making another push for the Constitutional amendment Bill that provides for delimitation of parliamentary seats before implementing 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. The government’s earlier attempt to ensure the legislation clears Parliament failed in April.
Speaking through social media live (Facebook) Mamata Banerjee said, “Today another MP left us. She is a film artiste and a good artiste. O respect her. She went and held meeting with a BJP leader and then submitted her resignation. For your information let me tell you she had sent email earlier and today she physically submitted her resignation. My request to son those who want to leave, is to leave before a July 21 (Martyrs Day). They are leaving to protect their properties and families. There is also pressure of CBI cases, ED cases, police cases. Even if they leave, I will fight on.”