Kolkata:
Bengali film actor Rukmini Mallick, popularly known as Koel Mallick, has submitted her nomination as the BJP candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and the party’s state president Samik Bhattacharya were present at that moment.
She joined the BJP at its state headquarters in Kolkata hours earlier, a day after the party fielded her for the polls from the same seat she had earlier resigned from.
The daughter of veteran Bengali film actor Ranjit Mallick had a short stint as a Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP from April 6 to July 16. She had resigned following the Mamata Banerjee-led party’s electoral debacle in the assembly elections, triggering speculations that she would join the BJP.
READ | Bengali Actor Koel Mallick Joins BJP Day After Rajya Sabha Nomination
Koel Mallick submitted her nomination in the office of the Assembly’s principal secretary at the Vidhan Sabha Bhavan, an official said. Chief Minister Adhikari and Samik Bhattacharya, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, accompanied Mallick when she submitted her nomination papers.
Mallick’s entry into the BJP and nomination to the Rajya Sabha follows a path taken by three former Trinamool leaders — Sukhendy Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Deb and Prakash Chik Baraik — who had earlier resigned from the Trinamool and the Upper House, crossed over to the saffron camp and were subsequently re-elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on BJP tickets.
Exuding full confidence in Mallick’s victory, the chief minister in a social media post said, “I congratulate and offer best wishes to her in advance.” Adhikari also presented Mallick with a framed photograph of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at his office in the assembly.
Senior ministers Tapas Roy and Sankar Ghosh were also present when Mallick submitted her nomination paper.
Elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal will be held on October 16. The BJP has a clear majority in the West Bengal Assembly.
Koel Mallick accepted the BJP flag from state general secretary Shashi Agnihotri at the party’s state headquarters in Salt Lake amid chants of ‘Vande Mataram’ on Monday morning before proceeding to file her nomination.
Speaking to reporters, Mallick said she was overwhelmed by the development work undertaken in Bengal over the past few months and had joined the BJP to become part of the process. She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Adhikari and said she wanted to serve people by following their path.
“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 most,” she said.
Mallick said she wanted to raise issues that ordinary people faced rather than merely criticise the government from the sidelines.
“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.
The actor said Bengal needed greater access to education, more schools, industrial growth and investment for genuine development.
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“I want the people of Bengal to live happily. There should be more work opportunities. There is increasing bitterness on social media today. The reason is a lack of work. We have to understand and accept that,” she said.
Asked whether she would take up active politics, Koel Mallick referred to her childhood association with the Missionaries of Charity, saying she had learnt the importance of serving people from an early age.
“When we were very young, everyone would go to different places during the summer holidays. My mother used to take me to the Missionaries of Charity. I have served people since childhood… If I can make a difference in people’s lives, that would be good. I want to be able to contribute to the welfare of the country,” she said.
Mallick avoided a direct answer to why she had severed ties with the Trinamool, saying it was not in her nature to speak harshly about anyone. She also faced criticism on social media after she decided to join the BJP.
READ | Actor Koel Mallick Quits Rajya Sabha Months After Being Picked By Trinamool
“I have no anger towards them (TMC). 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,” the BJP nominee added.
Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury termed Mallick’s induction into the BJP and her subsequent nomination to Rajya Sabha a “circus”.
Asked about the saffron party’s declared stand to keep former Trinamool leaders out of its fold, Chowdhury said. “The BJP needs numbers in the Rajya Sabha, and for that it can go to any extent. The party may talk of political ethics and ideals, but in reality they are hogwash.”
“They are luring people across the board, yearning for a little butter on bread, and asking them to join BJP from left, right, and centre,” he added.
