Three former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha members have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kolkata, which is seen as a setback for Mamata Banerjee. The members who joined the BJP include Sushmita Dev, as well as two other former TMC MPs, with some reports naming them as Prakash Chik Baraik and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, although one report mentions Sukhendu Sekhar Ray. This development comes ahead of Rajya Sabha bypolls, and the former TMC leaders have been named as BJP candidates shortly after joining the party.