Kolkata, Feb. 28 -- Former West Bengal director general of police Rajeev Kumar, Supreme Court lawyer Menaka Guruswamy, state cabinet minister Babul Supriyo and popular actor Koel Mallick were announced by the Trinamool Congress on Friday as candidates for the March 16 Rajya Sabha elections. "We are pleased to announce the candidature of Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar (Former DGP, West Bengal), Menaka Guruswamy and Koel Mallick for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections," the TMC said in a post on X. Kumar recently retired after serving in posts such as the state DGP and Kolkata Police commissioner. Guruswamy, who was one of the lawyers behind the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 2018, is also among the lawyers defending the TMC against the Enforcement Directorate in a case filed by the agency against chief minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly interfering in its operations on January 8. If elected successfully, Guruswamy will become the first person to openly identify as a member of the LGBTQIA+ communities to make it to Parliament. The TMC has the numbers to win four of the five seats from Bengal that are falling vacant on April 2. The BJP is set to win fifth. The Rajya Sabha terms of Subrata Bakshi, Ritabrata Banerjee and Saket Gokhale, and CPI(M)'s Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya end this year. The term of TMC's Mausam Noor would have also ended on April 2 but she returned to Congress on January 3 and resigned from the Rajya Sabha. "While Bakshi decided not to contest in view of his age and health issues, TMC decided not to renominate Ritabrata as he is a potential candidate for the assembly polls. Gokhale may be given a new role," a TMC leader said, requesting anonymity. Ritabrata is set to fight the assembly polls later this year. Mallick is a popular actor with a wide following in the state. Supriyo, a singer-turned politician, was a BJP Lok Sabha member from Asansol but left the party in 2021 and joined the TMC. He won the Ballygunge assembly bypoll in 2022. With no MLAs in Bengal since 2021, the Congress and Left parties are not in the race. htc...