The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday nominated its former West Bengal unit president Rahul Sinha for one of the five Rajya Sabha seats from the state that will go to polls on March 16.

Former West Bengal BJP chief Rahul Sinha. (X)

Five seats from West Bengal are scheduled for election to the Upper House this month.

“Rahul Sinha is a prominent political personality who strengthened the party’s base in West Bengal and served as state president as well as a national secretary,” the BJP said.

With 75 legislators in the 294-member state assembly, compared to 215 of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), the BJP has the numerical strength to ensure Sinha’s victory.

On February 27, the AITC surprised many by nominating former state director general of police Rajeev Kumar, Supreme Court lawyer Menaka Guruswamy, Cabinet minister Babul Supriyo and actor Koel Mallick for the remaining four seats.

The terms of TMC leaders Subrata Bakshi, Ritabrata Banerjee and Saket Gokhale, as well as CPI(M) leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, are set to end on April 2. The term of TMC’s Mausam Noor was also due to end on the same day, but she resigned from the Rajya Sabha after returning to the Congress on January 3.

With no MLAs in West Bengal since 2021, the Congress and the Left parties are not in contention for the Rajya Sabha seats.