Derek O'Brien, Saket Gokhale among 6 candidates named by TMC for RS polls

The others include Dola Sen, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Samirul Islam, Prakash Chik Baraik and Saket Gokhale.

Trinamool Congress on Monday renominated three sitting MPs, including its floor leader Derek O'Brien, and added three new faces to the Rajya Sabha while dropping Sushmita Dev and Shanta Chhetri.

There are seven seats up for grabs in West Bengal -- six seats where MPs have completed their terms and a seventh which is the remainder of the term of Louis Faleiro who resigned. Trinamool could win six of them -- five out of the six full term seats and the seventh one -- given its numerical superiority in the state Assembly.

Also Read | Jaishankar lands in Ahmedabad, to file nomination for Rajya Sabha election on July 10

Besides O'Brien, those who are renominated are Chief Whip Sukhendu Shekhar Roy and Dola Sen. New faces Bangla Sanskriti Mancha president Samirul Islam and Trinamool's Alipurduar district president Prakash Chik Baraik have also been fielded for the remaining two full term seats.

RTI activist and party leader Saket Gokhale has been nominated for the seventh seat, which Trinamool is slated to win.

Besides O'Brien, Ray and Sen, the tenures of Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya and Trinamool's Sushmita and its Darjeeling leader Shanta Chhetri have ended. O'Brien has been an MP since 2011 while Ray was first sent to the Upper House of the Parliament in 2012. Sen entered the Rajya Sabha in 2017.

A depleted Congress in the Assembly would mean that it would not have an MP from Bengal to represent it in the Upper House while the BJP will open its account from the state.

There is speculation about BJP sending either former nominated MP Swapan Dasgupta or writer Anirban Ganguly to Rajya Sabha from West Bengal.

"We take great pleasure in announcing the candidatures of Derek O'Brien, Dola Sen, Sukhendu Sekhar, Samirul Islam, Prakash Chik Baraik and Saket Gokhale for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections,. May they persist in their dedication to serving the people and uphold Trinamool's enduring legacy of indomitable spirit and advocacy for the rights of every Indian. We extend our heartfelt wishes to all," Trinamool tweeted.

Gokhale tweeted, "I’m overwhelmed by their faith in me & for giving this opportunity to a young middle-class boy who comes from a non-political background. They’ve been the source of my strength, my inspiration for public service, and rock solid pillars who stood by me and my family in the toughest times. I promise to give my all & everything to be an effective public representative & lawmaker & to stand up steadfastly for our democracy and Constitution."