Sukhendu Sekhar Ray distances himself from TMC rebel group

Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, who resigned from the Upper House on Monday, June 8, 2026, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, praised his colleagues in the Lok Sabha and West Bengal Assembly for their rebellion against the leadership of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s national general. secretary but also distanced himself from the rebel group.

In an interview HinduMr. Ray revealed that when he visited Union Minister Bhupender Yadav’s house, he was unaware that his former party friends would also be there. He was currently wondering whether it was time to “hang up his shoes” after his 59-year political career.

Mr. Ray, who joined the TMC in 2001 after quitting the Congress, was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2011 and was serving his third term. Mr Ray was the first TMC MP to resign from the Upper House.

“Bhupender Yadav is my close friend. We served together in different parliamentary committees. When he came to know about my resignation, he invited me for a cup of tea,” Mr. Ray said.

According to Mr. Ray, the Union Minister informed him after tea that some of his former colleagues were in another room. “I joined them and sat there for 30-40 minutes for casual conversation. The meeting had not started by then. It started only after Hon’ble Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari arrived. I stayed there for another 10 minutes and greeted Mr. Adhikari,” Mr. Ray said.

He also revealed that he did not attend the meeting of rebel TMC Lok Sabha MPs held at actor-turned-politician Shatabdi Roy’s residence in Delhi on Monday evening, June 8, 2026. However, he also supported the rebellion, calling it “the right thing to do”.

Asked about his latest words of praise about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the State, which was formed less than a month ago, Mr. Ray said: “For 49 years – 34 years of the Left Front and 15 years of the TMC – the State had turned into a desert. The new government gives hope to everyone.”

In his resignation letter, Mr. Ray had also said that the newly elected “people’s government” had started “taking initiatives for the overall development and reconstruction” of West Bengal.

Although TMC’s “decay” had set in during his second term in office, Mr. Ray said he was seriously considering resigning since his participation in protests and the RG Kar incident, which involved the rape and murder of a doctor. Following this, he was summoned by the State CID.

“I decided not to resign at that time because I saw that the state machinery was being used against me. I was afraid,” he said. He added that despite being a party member, he had been subjected to harassment and humiliation and feared that the situation could have been worse had he been outside the party. “My party leaders could have even hired goons to kill me. This happened in various parts of the state,” Mr. Ray alleged.

Calling it the “end of the road” for the TMC, Mr. Ray refused to confirm or deny whether he would join the BJP. “Whether I will join another party or not will come later. After 59 years of being in politics, the real question for me is whether I should continue in politics or not,” Mr. Ray said. Hindu.