Trinamool MP to BJP Rajya Sabha pick in 6 months: Curious case of Koel Mallick | Political Pulse News
4 min readKolkataOct 5, 2026 04:35 PM IST
First published on: Oct 5, 2026 at 04:35 PM IST
On April 6 this year, popular Bengali actor Koel Mallick took the oath as a Rajya Sabha MP from the Trinamool Congress. In an Instagram post sharing photographs of her in Parliament, Mallick wrote that she is honoured to get the opportunity to “serve the people of Bengal” and called it the beginning of a “new journey.”
The journey proved to be short. Less than a month later, the Trinamool Congress lost the Assembly polls in Bengal, and the BJP came to power. The poll setback triggered an implosion in the Trinamool Congress ranks, with leader after leader deserting the party’s firebrand chief Mamata Banerjee.
Amid the Trinamool meltdown, Mallick resigned as a Rajya Sabha MP on July 16. Shortly after, she met Union Minister Bhupender Yadav at his Delhi residence. And in less than three months, she is on the list of BJP candidates for the Rajya Sabha. Earlier, the BJP sent former Trinamool MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik to the Rajya Sabha, shortly after they quit as Trinamool MPs.
Who is Koel Mallick
A popular actor in Bengali films, Mallick has received multiple awards, including the Bengal government’s Mahanayak Samman in 2023.
An alumna of Modern High School and Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College, she holds a degree in psychology. She is the daughter of veteran Bengali actor Ranjit Mallick and is married to film producer Nispal Singh.
রাজ্য বিজেপির প্রধান কার্যালয়, ৬ মুরলিধর সেন লেনে রাজ্য বিজেপির সাধারণ সম্পাদিকা শ্রীমতি @shashikisoch মহাশয়ার হাত ধরে বিজেপি পরিবারে যোগ দিলেন বিশিষ্ট অভিনেত্রী কোয়েল মল্লিক।
— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) October 5, 2026
Koel Mallick’s BJP entry
Mallick joined the BJP on Monday, a day after the party announced that it has chosen her for a Rajya Sabha seat. She filed the nomination in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and the party’s state president Samik Bhattacharya. Speaking to the media, Mallick said, “I am honoured. I have been given a great responsibility. Serving people is a duty, and that is what I will do happily. I am overwhelmed to see the development work that has begun in Bengal over the past few months. This is what Bengal needs the most.” she said.
“I have always heard my father at home saying, ‘Why is this happening? Why is that not happening in the state?’ As an ordinary person, there are so many things we want and so many thoughts we keep to ourselves. “This time, I will speak about those issues. It is easy to read a newspaper and say, ‘Oh, this was not done’, but the real thing is to come to the field and work on those issues,” she said.
Asked why she cut ties with the Trinamool, she avoided a direct response. “I have no anger towards them. Perhaps being a student of psychology has made me empathetic. Those who derive satisfaction from putting others down may themselves be facing problems… I wish them mental well-being,” she said. “The ideologies of the two parties are different. Every party tries to do good in its own way… I am proud to have joined this party. They are working for the development of the people. I will also try to do the same,” she said.
A tale of 2 meetings
On January 15, a month before Trinamool chose Koel Mallick for the Rajya Sabha seat, the party’s national general secretary, Lok Sabha MP and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee met Ranjit Mallick at his Kolkata home and presented him with ‘Unnayaner Panchali’, a report card of 15 years of the Trinamool government’s achievements. Both spoke highly of each other.
Cut to September 4, Bengal Chief Minister Adhikari greeted Ranjit Mallick by touching his feet and holding his hand to lead him onto the stage during the centenary celebrations of legendary actor Uttam Kumar in Tollygunge. And a month later, his daughter is BJP’s Rajya Sabha choice.
