Luizinho Faleiro, the former chief minister of Goa, was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal on Monday, November 22, making him the first Goan to be elected to the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Faleiro's victory was officially declared by the West Bengal assembly.
The TMC last week named its vice-president Luizinho Faleiro as its candidate for the by-election.
"The assembly secretary in a notification announced that Luizinho Faleiro has been elected to Rajya Sabha in the by-poll. After scrutiny of papers, he was declared elected unopposed," TMC Chief Whip Nirmal Ghosh said.
Earlier, Faleiro ended his decades-long association with the Congress and joined the TMC in September in Kolkata. He was appointed as the party's national vice-president last month.
Mamata Banerjee's party has been poaching leaders in Goa in order to expand its territory outside West Bengal. Apart from Faleiro, the TMC has recently inducted independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar and former MGP MLA Lavu Mamledar.
As Banerjee prepares for the 2022 state elections, poll strategist Prashant Kishor's PAC has set its camp in Goa. In an attempt to remove the governing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa, the TMC has called on organisations and political parties to join forces with it.
