West Bengal Assembly elections: Swapan Dasgupta resigns from Rajya Sabha amid disqualification row

Swapan Dasgupta, fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the West Bengal Assembly polls, on Tuesday tendered his resignation as a Rajya Sabha MP, said several media reports.

Swapan Dasgupta tenders his resignation as a Rajya Sabha MP. His resignation has been sent to the Chairman of the House, it is yet to be accepted.

BJP has fielded him as its candidate for Tarakeshwar seat in the upcoming #WestBengalElections2021

(File photo) pic.twitter.com/eCqbir3GMl

— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2021

This comes after Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Monday pointed out that Dasgupta is a nominated member of the Upper House and said that he must be disqualified for joining the BJP.

The BJP has fielded Dasgupta from the Tarakeshwar Assembly constituency in Hooghly district.

"Swapan Dasgupta is BJP candidate for WB polls. 10th Schedule of Constitution says nominated RS member to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of six months from oath. He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied. Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP," Moitra tweeted along with a photo of the tenth schedule of the constitution.

Swapan Dasgupta is BJP candidate for WB polls.
10th Schedule of Constitution says nominated RS member to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of 6 months from oath.
He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied.
Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP. pic.twitter.com/d3CDc9dNCe

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 15, 2021

In another tweet, Moitra said, "Rajya Sabha website as of today says Swapan Dasgupta is nominated and not formally BJP. If he files nomination as a BJP candidate, he should be disqualified according to the Constitution’s 10th Schedule (Para 2 (3))."

Following up on my previous tweet - Rajya Sabha website as of today says Swapan Dasgupta is nominated & not formally BJP. If he files nomination as @BJP candidate he should be disqualified according to the Constitution’s 10th Schedule (Para 2 (3)) pic.twitter.com/b0RdQ0Rpxv

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 15, 2021

Dasgupta, a columnist, confirmed  on Twitter that he has resigned "to commit myself totally to the fight for a better Bengal." "I hope to file my nomination as BJP candidate for the Tarakeshwar Assembly seat in the next few days," he added.

I have resigned from the Rajya Sabha today to commit myself totally to the fight for a better Bengal. I hope to file my nomination as BJP candidate for the Tarakeshwar Assembly seat in the next few days.

— Swapan Dasgupta (@swapan55) March 16, 2021

Dasgupta told NDTV that the issues between between him being a presidential nominee to the Rajya Sabha and him contesting the Bengal polls will be resolved by the time he files his nomiation but did not respond to Moitra's Twitter post.

"I have a particular status in the Rajya Sabha as a presidential nominee. I am contesting this election as a BJP candidate from Tarakeshwar. Naturally, between two things, there are a lot of outstanding issues. The nomination process involves resolving all these. And all these issues will be resolved by the time I file my nomination," he told the news channel.

According to the NDTV report, Dasgupta's term was till April 2022 but he has reportedly requested that his resignation be accepted by Wednesday.

Elections to the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be conducted in eight phases between 27 March and 29 April and the counting of votes is scheduled to take place on 2 May.