Menaka Guruswamy could be India’s 1st LGBTQ MP after TMC's RS nomination.
Senior Supreme Court advocate Menaka Guruswamy has been nominated by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) as one of its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, a move that could see her become India’s first openly queer Member of Parliament if elected.
The party, led by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, announced her candidature on Friday evening along with three other nominees — minister Babul Supriyo, former West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar and actor Koel Mallick — in a post on X.
“We are pleased to announce the candidature of Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar, Menaka Guruswamy and Koel Mallick for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. We extend our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to them,” the TMC said, expressing hope that the nominees would uphold the party’s “legacy of resilience” and commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of every Indian.
Guruswamy is widely recognised for her role in the landmark constitutional challenge that led to the 2018 Supreme Court judgment decriminalising homosexuality in India.
She was among the lawyers who argued the case that resulted in the reading down of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a colonial-era provision that criminalised same-sex relations.
Her nomination to the Upper House places a prominent constitutional voice — and a public figure associated with LGBTQ rights — at the centre of the TMC’s parliamentary strategy.
She began her legal career in 1997 under former Attorney General Ashok Desai, focusing on constitutional and litigation matters. After completing her Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at the University of Oxford and an LLM from Harvard Law School, she briefly worked at international law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York before returning to India to practise in New Delhi.
In 2019, Guruswamy was named in Foreign Policy magazine’s list of 100 most influential Global Thinkers. The same year, she and her partner, lawyer Arundhati Katju, were featured in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Her portrait is displayed at Milner Hall in Rhodes House at Oxford, making her the first Indian and only the second woman to receive that distinction.
More recently, she represented the TMC in court proceedings challenging Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches at the offices of political consultancy firm I-PAC.
Polling for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across several states, including West Bengal, is scheduled for March 16, as announced by the Election Commission.
In West Bengal, five Rajya Sabha seats are set to fall vacant, four of which are currently held by the TMC. With its numerical strength in the 294-member Assembly, the ruling party is widely expected to retain four seats, while the BJP is likely to secure one.
Among the other nominees, Babul Supriyo — a former Union minister in the Narendra Modi government — joined the TMC in September 2021 after resigning from the BJP. He later won the Ballygunge Assembly bypoll and currently serves as a minister in the West Bengal government.
Rajeev Kumar, a former IPS officer, served as Director General of Police of West Bengal and earlier headed Kolkata Police. He was previously at the centre of a high-profile standoff between the state government and central agencies during the probe into the Saradha chit fund case.
Koel Mallick, a prominent actor in the Bengali film industry and daughter of veteran actor Ranjit Mallick, rounds out the list.
This post was last modified on February 28, 2026 11:29 am