Newsmakers | TMC pulls a surprise with Sagarika Ghose in RS polls list, Matua leader too among nominees

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday announced the names of four candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections from West Bengal on February 27. While the party nominated party leaders Sushmita Dev, Md Nadimul Haque and Mamata Bala Thakur, it sprang a surprise by announcing well-known journalist Sagarika Ghose as its nominee.

“We are pleased to announce the candidature of @sagarikaghose, @SushmitaDevAITC, @MdNadimulHaque6 and Mamata Bala Thakur for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections. We extend our heartfelt wishes to them and may they work towards upholding Trinamool’s enduring legacy of indomitable spirit and advocacy for the rights of every Indian,” the TMC said in a post on X.

According to the current strength of the West Bengal Assembly, four TMC candidates and one from the BJP will be elected to the Rajya Sabha. The TMC has 222 members in the Assembly while the BJP has 68. Others make up three seats, while one seat is vacant in the 294-member House.

Haque is a two-time Rajya Sabha MP, having been sent to the Upper House of Parliament for the first time in 2012. A writer and journalist by profession, he is the owner of the Kolkata-based Urdu daily Akhbar-e-Mashriq. He was a member of the Rajbhasha Committee of the Railway Ministry between October 2009 and March 2012, a time when the TMC was in charge of the ministry. He also served as a member of the Passenger Services Committee.

Since 2011, when the TMC stormed to power in West Bengal, he has served as a member of various committees of the West Bengal government such as the Press Accreditation Committee and the West Bengal Minority Development & Finance Corporation, and has also served on the governing body of the Urdu Academy, the Mohammedan Burial Board of Kolkata