All India Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale has been elected as Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from West Bengal, on Monday, July 17. Saket Gokhale is known for his right-to-information activism. Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Dola Sen, Samirul Islam, and Prakash Barik from TMC were among other members elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had announced elections for 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Goa, West Bengal and Gujarat to be held on July 24 with July 17 being the last date to withdraw nominations.
“Officially elected as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, an hour ago. I’m immensely grateful to my leaders @MamataOfficial & @abhishekaitc for this opportunity & their guidance. I’m proud to be representing the great state of West Bengal & immensely indebted to the people of Bengal for their love & support. I’ll do my absolutely best to raise the voice of the people of Bengal & the rest of India in Parliament & fight for their rights. I also promise the Modi Govt & BJP that I’ll keep them on their toes every moment with the right questions & make them accountable,” he said.
Officially elected as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, an hour ago.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) July 17, 2023
I’m immensely grateful to my leaders @MamataOfficial & @abhishekaitc for this opportunity & their guidance.
I’m proud to be representing the great state of West Bengal & immensely indebted to the people of… pic.twitter.com/ictqfTaX9C
Saket Gokhale, an Indian Right to Information (RTI) activist and spokesperson of the TMC, joined the party in 2021. He has also worked as a correspondent for esteemed publications such as the Financial Times and the Hindustan Times, gaining recognition for his activism and involvement in various social and political issues. Gokhale has on various occasions made groundbreaking revelations through his RTIs.
In December 2022, he was arrested over a tweet in which he allegedly posted misinformation about the 2022 Morbi bridge collapse. After obtaining bail from a metropolitan court in Ahmedabad, he was re-arrested on the same charges within a few hours. Ultimately, he was released on bail on December 10. In January 2023, Gokhale faced further legal trouble when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on allegations of money laundering.
Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Shanta Chhetri and Sushmita Dev of Trinamool Congress and Pradip Bhattacharya of the Congress in West Bengal; Dineshchandra Anavadiya, Jugalsinh Mathurji Lokhandwala, and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar Krishnaswamy from Gujarat will retire on August 18; and Vinay Dinu Tendulkar from Goa will retire on July 28, according to an ANI report.