Sukhendu Sekhar Ray resigns from Rajya Sabha, and Trinamool Congress

Senior Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray on Monday (June 8, 2026) said that he had resigned from the Rajya Sabha and from the party.

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Mr. Ray has been one of the dissenting voices in the Trinamool Congress and had distanced himself from the party after its debacle in the recently concluded 2026 Assembly election in the State. The 77-year-old Trinamool leader raised several issues, including corruption in the party, and said there had been no introspection in the party after the loss. On Monday, he became the first MP of the Trinamool Congress to resign after the setback the party suffered in the Assembly election.

Mr. Ray’s resignation brings to the fore differences amongst the TMC MPs. Speculation is rife that more MPs may quit the Trinamool.

The party is also facing a rebellion in its legislature party, with about 60 MLAs electing a new Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.

“The legislators also probably did not have the confidence that the party was running in the right direction. There was no forum within the party to discuss the political issues and other social issues,” Mr. Ray told media persons in Delhi.

The MP said in a press statement that the electorate of the State had provided a clear majority to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “by expressing their no confidence against the relentless corruption, violence against women, and extreme anarchy in every sector — education, health, industry, employment, and law and order — due to the miserable incompetence of Trinamool Congress”.

After the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College Hospital, Mr. Ray had criticised the party. “I was sidelined in the party for long, had participated in protests against the crime,” he said. Later, he mended ties with the Trinamool leadership.

A former Congress leader who was close to the late former President Pranab Mukherjee, Mr. Ray had served in the Rajya Sabha since 2011, was the Deputy Leader of Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha till 2019, and remained the party’s Chief Whip till 2024.