The Trinamool Congress on Friday announced four candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, including Babul Supriyo. The former Union minister and current Ballygunge MLA is set to return to Parliament as a Member of the Rajya Sabha ahead of the state Assembly elections due later this year.
Later that year, he left the BJP and joined the Trinamool Congress. In 2022, he won the Ballygunge by-election and became a minister in the state government.
‘I am ready to take up the challenge’
The Rajya Sabha polls are scheduled for March 16, and the Trinamool Congress is expected to win all four seats based on numbers. Speaking to Ei Samay exclusively, Babul expressed gratitude to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool’s All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee for trusting him again.
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He said, “Even after working with full dedication, I had faced heartbreak. But ever since Didi (CM Mamata Banerjee) and Abhishek (Abhishek Banerjee) brought me into the TMC, I have felt so much love, belief, trust and inspiration at every step. I can’t thank them enough."
He also added, " I’m very calm, and I really don’t know what to say. At one point, I had felt like leaving politics and focusing only on singing. But the complete freedom that Didi has given me has helped me work better. Overall, it feels very quiet and humble — altogether, it feels good. I am ready to take up the challenge.”
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Babul Supriyo was earlier an MP in the Lok Sabha and served as a Union Minister in multiple portfolios. He joined the BJP in 2014 and was elected from Asansol the same year. He became Minister of State for Urban Development and later served as Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries. In 2019, he was re-elected from Asansol and took charge as Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests. However, in the 2021 Assembly elections, he contested from Tollygunge on a BJP ticket and lost.
