TMC MP Rukmini Mallick resigns from Rajya Sabha just three months after her election to the upper house, meets BJP leader Bhupender Yadav

Actress-turned-politician Rukmini Mallick, popularly known as Koel Mallick, has formally resigned from her membership of the Rajya Sabha, dealing yet another blow to the Trinamool Congress in the aftermath of its heavy defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The TMC Rajya Sabha MP met Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan in New Delhi on Thursday and submitted her resignation letter, seeking its acceptance with immediate effect. In the letter dated 16 July 2026, Mallick expressed her gratitude to the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and the Rajya Sabha Secretariat for the cooperation extended during her brief tenure. She had taken oath as a member only in early April this year after being elected on a TMC ticket.

“I do hereby resign from the membership of Rajya Sabha, which may please be accepted with immediate effect,” the letter reads.

According to reports circulating alongside the development, Mallick is expected to join the Bharatiya Janata Party and is likely to be fielded by the party as its candidate for the seat that will fall vacant following her resignation. She met Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav after submitting her resignation, giving a clear signal that she is joining the BJP.

This is the latest in a series of high-profile exits from the Upper House by TMC members after the party suffered a decisive loss to the BJP in the West Bengal Assembly polls held earlier this year. The first to quit was senior leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, who resigned from both the party and the Rajya Sabha on 8 June, citing corruption and the public’s mandate against the TMC’s long rule. He was followed on 10 June by Sushmita Dev, who stepped down after meeting Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The very next day, Prakash Chik Baraik also tendered his resignation, stating that he was accepting the verdict of the people of West Bengal that had gone in favour of the BJP. All three former TMC Rajya Sabha MPs joined the BJP on 9th July, and they were nominated for the by-elections to fill the vacancies caused by their resignations by the BJP on the same day.

Prior to this wave of resignations that began in early June, the Trinamool Congress held 13 seats in the Rajya Sabha. After the exits of Ray, Dev and Baraik, the party’s strength had come down to 10. With Mallick’s formal resignation now accepted, the TMC’s tally in the Upper House stands at nine.

The bye-elections for the three earlier vacancies are scheduled for 24 July, and Mallick’s departure will create a fourth vacancy from West Bengal. This further reduces the opposition numbers in the Rajya Sabha at a time when the ruling NDA is consolidating its position in the House.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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