Source India Today
NEW DELHI / KOLKATA — In a major political jolt to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, prominent Bengali actor-turned-politician Koel Mallick resigned from the Rajya Sabha. The shock exit comes just three months after she took her oath as a lawmaker in the Upper House of Parliament.
Adding fuel to intensely brewing political speculation, Mallick drove straight to the New Delhi residence of Union Minister and senior BJP leader Bhupender Yadav shortly after tendering her resignation, signaling a potential shift in her political allegiance.
A Sudden Departure
Mallick, whose legal name is Rukmini Mallick, formally submitted her resignation letter to Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan. Having taken her oath in Bengali on April 6, 2026, her sudden resignation comes before she could even attend a single functional session of the House.
While Mallick expressed gratitude to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat for their cooperation in her brief tenure, she did not cite a specific reason for her abrupt departure.
Exits Piling Up for Mamata Banerjee
Mallick’s exit is the fourth high-profile Rajya Sabha resignation the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has faced in quick succession. Her departure follows senior leaders Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik, all of whom recently resigned from the TMC to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The mass desertion is part of a widening structural collapse within the party following its recent setbacks in the West Bengal Assembly polls. The party’s internal crises are mounting exponentially across three fronts:
The Upper House: The TMC’s strength in the Rajya Sabha has plummeted from 13 down to just nine members.
The Lok Sabha: A massive bloc of 20 out of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs has rebelled, breaking away to align with the NDA-backed Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
The State Assembly: Just a day prior to Mallick’s exit, veteran MLA and close Mamata aide Madan Mitra quit the main party fold to join a burgeoning rebel faction of over 60 MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee.
Mamata Hits Back
Responding to the sudden exit via a Facebook Live broadcast, a resilient Mamata Banerjee acknowledged Mallick’s stature as an artist but claimed that external pressures were driving the political exodus.
“Today another MP left us. She is a film artiste and a good artiste. I respect her,” Banerjee said. “They are leaving to protect their properties and families. There is the pressure of CBI cases, ED cases, and police cases. Even if they leave, I will fight on.”
Banerjee also issued a stern ultimatum to other wavering party members, asking anyone who intends to defect to do so immediately before the party’s upcoming historic July 21 Martyrs’ Day Rally.
The Delimitation Angle
Political analysts note that the BJP’s aggressive consolidation of former TMC lawmakers carries national significance. As the central government aims to secure a robust two-thirds majority in both houses of Parliament, filling these vacated seats with loyalists is crucial ahead of a renewed push for the upcoming Constitutional Amendment Bill on seat delimitation and women’s reservation.
With the Parliament Monsoon session only days away, all eyes remain on Koel Mallick to see if she follows her former colleagues into the saffron fold.
