Who is Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Trinamool's no-compromise man who quit Rajya Sabha?

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy became the first MP of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to quit in the wake of the party’s crushing electoral loss in West Bengal in May as he stepped down on Monday (June 8), the same day party supremo Mamata Banerjee and the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Abhishek Banerjee, attended a key meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc in New Delhi on the opposition platform’s joint strategy for future.

Sukhendu Sekhar said TMC will not survive

The 77-year-old Roy, who served as an MP in the Rajya Sabha since 2011, has always been one of the TMC’s most outspoken leaders. He had been critical of the party over the past few days. Roy recently said that the recent developments within the party in Bengal, where three-fourths of its 80 newly elected MLAs walked out to back a dissenting leader, are unprecedented and could have repercussions in Parliament. He even predicted that the TMC would not survive.

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The senior leader’s forecasts sound prophetic at the moment, as the majority of TMC MPs met Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at a Union minister's residence on Monday and were reportedly keen to join the National Democratic Alliance.

Roy did not parrot party during RG Kar

Roy himself has not been in the limelight much. However, in 2024, following the rape-murder of a medical student in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, he spoke out against the atrocity. The public stance of the leader, father of a daughter, saw him getting replaced as the chief whip in the Upper House and he also received a police notice over his critical social media posts on the incident. He also criticised the former government’s handling of the issue.

Roy told reporters in New Delhi on Monday that he was increasingly cornered within the party after he spoke out on the RG Kar issue. He also alleged that corruption was rampant in many sectors during the TMC’s rule, and the public anger against it reached such a point that an electoral setback was a matter of time.

Son of Hindu Mahasabha leader

Born in the English Bazar area of Malda district of Bengal in 1949, Roy is the son of Shibendu Sekhar Roy, a noted Hindu Mahasabha leader in the district who played a key role in uniting the people of Malda during Partition to ensure that the district remained within India, and Hironmoyee Devi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi saluted Shibendu Sekhar at an event in Malda in January and was gifted with his photograph by the Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party.

Roy received his primary education in Malda and studied at Kolkata’s St. Paul’s College, Rabindra Bharati University and Calcutta University. He holds MA and LLB degrees and also practised law. He began his political career in the Congress in the late 1960s and joined the TMC in 2011.

Once considered a close aide to Mamata, he served three consecutive terms in the Upper House and held key responsibilities within the party. Besides serving as the chief whip in the Rajya Sabha between 2011 and 2024, he also worked as the editor of the TMC’s daily mouthpiece, Jago Bangla, from 2022 and 2024.

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Roy has been one of the TMC’s most dedicated parliamentarians in the Rajya Sabha, regularly attending sessions and taking part in key debates over issues such as starting direct flights connecting Kolkata to the US and Europe, to the Union Budget. He also discharged responsibilities as member of various parliamentary bodies.

In the Congress, Roy was close to former President Pranab Mukherjee and also edited a book on him titled Pranab Mukherjee: The All Season Man. He also authored a Bengali book on Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee, the Congress’s first president, named Jiban Digante.

Roy joined Mamata's TMC in 1998

He followed Mamata to her TMC, which was formed on the first day of 1998, following her expulsion from the Congress. Roy was the vice president of the Calcutta High Court Bar Association for two years (2009-11). Following the TMC’s historic win in the 2011 Bengal elections, Roy went to the Upper House.

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The leader is also a constitutional expert who worked as one of the TMC’s principal strategists in Parliament over the years. After resigning, Roy said he had not made a decision about joining another party, and may retire from active politics.