BJP fields 3 TMC turncoats for RS bypolls in Bengal

Kolkata, July 13: Three BJP nominees – Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik – filed nomination papers on Monday for the Rajya Sabha bypolls in West Bengal, with the saffron party defending its decision to field the TMC turncoats despite its earlier pledge not to induct leaders from the Trinamool Congress. The otherwise routine nominations for the July 24 Rajya Sabha bypolls highlighted a visible shift in the BJP’s post-assembly election approach, with the party now selectively accommodating opposition leaders it considers politically valuable instead of adhering to its earlier blanket resistance to former TMC functionari…