Mamata Picks Ex-Top Cop Rajeev Kumar for Rajya Sabha
Former West Bengal police chief Rajeev Kumar (Image X.com)
TMC nominates former DGP Rajeev Kumar — named by ED in Supreme Court — alongside advocate Menaka Guruswamy, actress Koel Mallick and former Union Minister Babul Supriyo for March 16 Upper House polls
By NIRENDRA DEV
New Delhi, February 28, 2026 — In a politically charged move that has drawn immediate fire from the BJP, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has nominated former West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar as one of the party’s four candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for March 16.
Announcing the nominations, the Trinamool Congress said it was “pleased to announce the candidature of Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar (Former DGP, West Bengal), Menaka Guruswamy and Koel Mallick for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections,” expressing confidence that they would “continue to uphold Trinamool’s enduring legacy of resilience and its unwavering commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of every Indian.”
The announcement was met with swift and pointed criticism from the opposition.
Who Is Rajeev Kumar — And Why Does His Nomination Matter?
Rajeev Kumar is widely regarded as among the most trusted individuals in Mamata Banerjee’s inner circle — a loyalty that has been tested and demonstrated in the most public and consequential circumstances.
He is currently among those named by the Enforcement Directorate before the Supreme Court for allegedly disrupting the agency’s raids on Trinamool’s poll consultant I-PAC at its Kolkata office in January. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself has also been named by the ED in the same matter.
His history with central investigative agencies runs deeper. In February 2019, when Kumar was serving as Kolkata Police Commissioner, a CBI team arrived at his residence late at night to examine him in connection with the Saradha chit fund case and related matters — and was detained by the city police. Mamata Banerjee rushed to the commissioner’s home, held marathon consultations with senior police officials, and then launched a high-profile sit-in protest against what she described as “the blatant use of central police agencies” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then BJP national president Amit Shah.
Kumar subsequently underwent 44 hours of interrogation by the CBI in Shillong between February 9 and 13, 2019. The CBI was not satisfied. On April 5, 2019, it filed an application seeking modification of the court order that had granted Kumar interim protection from arrest, contending that his custodial interrogation was necessary given what it called his “alleged non-cooperation and evasive replies.”
The BJP wasted no time in attacking the nomination. State unit president Samik Bhattacharya said: “Mamata Banerjee can nominate him, but if Rajeev Kumar accepts the nomination, it would prove that he worked for political reasons during his tenure as DGP, not as an administrator. The people of Bengal will now clearly understand how he used the police system politically.”
BJP leader Agnimitra Paul was more direct: “DGP Rajeev Kumar, who is an accused in the Saradha case, is being sent to the Rajya Sabha. This is a very shocking development. We have often said that Mamata Banerjee supports anti-social elements — but Rajeev Kumar is not a criminal. Yet he is not entirely a clean person either. Sending him to the Rajya Sabha, a key institution of parliamentary democracy… If Rajeev Kumar speaks out, it could create serious trouble for her.”
Menaka Guruswamy: A Historic Nomination
If elected, advocate Menaka Guruswamy would make history as India’s first MP from the LGBTQ community. Her nomination by TMC is widely read as an expression of political gratitude — she had appeared on behalf of the party in the Calcutta High Court in January in connection with the ED’s raids on I-PAC properties. She is also celebrated for her pivotal role in the legal battle that culminated in the Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 ruling striking down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which had criminalised gay sex.
Babul Supriyo and Koel Mallick: Familiar Faces in New Roles
Former Union Minister Babul Supriyo, who represented the Asansol parliamentary constituency in 2014 and 2019 — defeating actress Moon Moon Sen in the latter election — was dropped from the Union Cabinet in Prime Minister Modi’s 2021 reshuffle and subsequently crossed over to the Trinamool Congress. According to a TMC source, his Rajya Sabha nomination may also reflect internal party pressures: a senior minister had expressed interest in contesting from Ballygunge, the assembly seat Supriyo currently holds.
Actress Koel Mallick — daughter of veteran Bengali film star Ranjit Mallick — rounds out the TMC’s four-member Rajya Sabha slate. The Mallick family has long maintained warm ties with Mamata Banerjee.
The Larger Parliamentary Picture
The Rajya Sabha elections on March 16 will be held across ten states for 37 seats in the Upper House. From West Bengal, five sitting members — Saket Gokhale, Ritabrata Banerjee, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Mausam Noor, and Subrata Bakshi — are retiring.
The political stakes extend beyond West Bengal. The BJP-led NDA currently holds 133 seats in the 245-member Rajya Sabha, with the BJP itself accounting for 103. The party requires 20 more seats to reach the 123-seat majority mark — making the outcome of these elections consequential for the government’s ability to pass legislation in the Upper House.
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