Three former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders—Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik—who resigned from the Rajya Sabha in June, officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kolkata on Thursday.The BJP announced that all three will contest the July 24 bypolls for the Upper House seats they vacated.State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya welcomed them, stating they are now BJP workers under Narendra Modi's leadership.

The leaders criticized the TMC for corruption and mismanagement, with Roy accusing the party of failing to address public sentiment after the RG Kar incident.Dev alleged widespread corruption within the TMC, while Baraik remained silent.The Election Commission had announced the bypolls after the TMC's poor performance in recent assembly elections.Meanwhile, 65 out of 80 TMC candidates who won in April have joined a rebel faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee.The BJP currently holds three of 13 Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal, with the remaining 10 TMC MPs being loyalists to Mamata Banerjee.