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.
Chief Minister Adhikari and Samik Bhattacharya, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, accompanied Mallick when she submitted her nomination papers. Adhikari also presented Mallick with a framed photograph of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at his office in the assembly. “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 time, I will speak about those issues. “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.”
Koel Mallick submitted her nomination in the office of the Assembly’s principal secretary at the Vidhan Sabha Bhavan, an official said. 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. 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. 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. 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. Asked about the saffron party’s declared stand to keep former Trinamool leaders out of its fold, Chowdhury said.
