Bengal RS bypoll for Koel Mallick's vacated seat on Oct 16
Synopsis
Koel Mallick's Rajya Sabha career lasted from March to July 2026 — zero sessions attended. Now the ECI has set her vacated Bengal seat for a 16 October bypoll on Maha Sashthi. With multiple ex-TMC MPs already re-elected as BJP candidates, the bypoll is less a routine election and more a live test of how deeply the saffron wave has reshaped Bengal's Upper House arithmetic.
Key Takeaways
The ECI has scheduled a Rajya Sabha bypoll for West Bengal on 16 October 2026 , coinciding with Maha Sashthi (Durga Puja opening day).
Koel Mallick resigned from the Rajya Sabha on 16 July 2026 , having attended zero parliamentary sessions since her election in March 2026 .
Former TMC MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Roy , Sushmita Dev , and Prakash Chik Baraik resigned earlier and were subsequently re-elected as BJP candidates.
Mallick met both Vice President C.P.
Radhakrishnan and Union Education Minister Bhupendra Yadav around the time of her resignation, fuelling BJP-switch speculation.
The ECI also announced biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats across other states on the same date.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that polling for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal — vacated by actress-turned-politician Koel Mallick — will be held on 16 October 2026. The by-election falls on Maha Sashthi, the opening day of the Durga Puja festivities, making it a politically charged fixture in an already turbulent Bengal political calendar.
How the Vacancy Arose
Koel Mallick, elected to the Rajya Sabha in March 2026 on a Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket, submitted her resignation on 16 July 2026 by meeting Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan in New Delhi. Her departure is part of a broader pattern: the vacancy is one of several triggered by resignations of former TMC MPs following the party's crushing defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year.
Among the earlier resignees were Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik, all of whom subsequently secured re-election to the Upper House as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates — a pattern that has stoked speculation about Mallick's own political trajectory.
BJP Switch Speculation Intensifies
Mallick's resignation triggered immediate speculation that she could follow her former colleagues into the BJP and contest the same seat. Those rumours gained traction after she met Union Education Minister Bhupendra Yadav shortly after submitting her resignation — a meeting widely read as a signal of a possible party switch. Whether those speculations translate into reality is, according to reports, likely to become clearer in the run-up to the 16 October poll.
A Rajya Sabha Career That Never Began
Notably, despite holding her Rajya Sabha membership for several months, Mallick did not attend a single parliamentary session before resigning. The recently concluded Monsoon Session would have been her first opportunity to participate in proceedings had she chosen to remain in office — a detail critics argue underscores the transactional nature of the nominations.
Mallick was one of four candidates nominated by the TMC in February 2026, alongside former West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar, former state Tourism Minister Babul Supriyo, and senior Supreme Court advocate Menaka Guruswamy. All four were elected to the Upper House in March 2026.
Wider ECI Announcements on October 16
The ECI simultaneously announced biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats across other states, also scheduled for 16 October 2026. The Bengal bypoll is the only single-seat vacancy among the batch, making it a closely watched contest given its political symbolism in the post-Assembly-election realignment of the state's Upper House representation.
With the Durga Puja backdrop and BJP's record of absorbing TMC defectors, the outcome of the 16 October vote will be seen as a barometer of how far the saffron party has consolidated its Bengal gains at the parliamentary level.
Point of View
Only to potentially return under a rival banner. The fact that she attended no parliamentary session makes the resignation look less like a political statement and more like an unfinished transaction. The ECI scheduling the vote on Maha Sashthi — the most festive day of Bengal's calendar — adds a layer of optics that neither party will ignore. If Mallick does contest on a BJP ticket and wins, it would represent the most high-profile individual validation of the party's post-Assembly Bengal consolidation to date.
NationPress
22 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the West Bengal Rajya Sabha bypoll being held?
The West Bengal Rajya Sabha bypoll is scheduled for 16 October 2026 , as announced by the Election Commission of India. The date coincides with Maha Sashthi, the opening day of the Durga Puja festivities.
Why did Koel Mallick resign from the Rajya Sabha?
Koel Mallick resigned from the Rajya Sabha on 16 July 2026 , just months after being elected in March on a Trinamool Congress ticket. The reason she cited has not been detailed in official statements; her resignation is widely seen in the context of multiple former TMC MPs quitting the Upper House following the party's defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
Is Koel Mallick likely to join the BJP?
Speculation about a BJP switch has been reported following Mallick's meeting with Union Education Minister Bhupendra Yadav shortly after her resignation. However, no formal announcement has been made; whether she contests the 16 October bypoll as a BJP candidate is expected to become clear in the coming weeks.
Who else resigned from the Rajya Sabha after the West Bengal Assembly election results?
Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik were among the TMC Rajya Sabha members who resigned following the party's Assembly election defeat. All three subsequently secured re-election to the Upper House as BJP candidates.
What other Rajya Sabha elections did the ECI announce alongside the Bengal bypoll?
The ECI simultaneously announced biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats across other states, also scheduled for 16 October 2026. The West Bengal seat is the only single-seat vacancy in the batch.
