NEW DELHI: Bengali film actor Koel Mallick joined the BJP on Monday, a day after the party nominated her for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.Mallick, daughter of veteran Bengali actor Ranjit Mallick, had earlier served as a TMC Rajya Sabha MP for a brief period from April 6 to July 16. She resigned after the Mamata Banerjee-led party’s electoral setback in the assembly elections.West Bengal BJP general secretary Sashi Agnihotri welcomed Mallick into the party and said she would file her nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat on Monday.“It would be an honour for me to become a member of the Upper House of Parliament and get a chance to work for the welfare of the people,” Mallick said at a press conference at the BJP state headquarters.The actor said she wanted to be part of the development initiatives undertaken by the BJP government in West Bengal. She also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari for selecting her for the Rajya Sabha nomination.Asked about criticism over her decision to leave the TMC and join the BJP, Mallick said, “They are making such rude comments possibly because of their own vexations. I have no anger against them,” PTI reported.She said the new government was taking steps to create opportunities for Bengal’s talent and prevent people from leaving the state, adding that she wanted to contribute to those efforts.
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“The root cause of increasing toxicity on social media is lack of work among the people,” she added.Responding to a question on whether joining the TMC had been a wrong decision, Mallick said, “Every party has its own ways of working and doing good. I feel enormously proud and privileged that I am now in a party which has undertaken welfare works for people in West Bengal in the past few months.”The bypolls for 12 Rajya Sabha seats across West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are scheduled for October 16.
