Kolkata, Oct. 4 -- Actor Rukmini Mallick, better known as Koel Mallick, was nominated on Sunday by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its Upper House candidate from Bengal for the October 16 by-election to the seat she resigned from in July as a member of the Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The BJP named Rukmini Mallick in a statement issued by its central election committee from Delhi on Sunday afternoon. The party also named Dinesh Arya as its Rajya Sabha candidate for the Uttarakhand bypoll to be held on the same day.

With the BJP controlling 208 of Bengal's 294 assembly seats, Mallick's victory appears certain.

Earlier, three other TMC Rajya Sabha members-Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik B...