TMC MP Sushmita Dev resigns from party, RS in another setback for party
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Photo: IANS
In another setback for the All India Trinamool Congress, Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev resigned from the Upper House on Wednesday, becoming the second party MP to step down within a week after Sukhendu Sekhar Roy.
Speaking to the media, Dev said that she had resigned not only from the Rajya Sabha but also from the Trinamool Congress, describing that as the more significant decision.
Soon after tendering her resignation, she met Himanta Biswa Sarma in New Delhi, triggering speculation about a possible move to the Bharatiya Janata Party, The New Indian Express reported.
In her letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan, Dev requested that her resignation be accepted with immediate effect.
Dev joined the Trinamool Congress in 2021 after quitting the Indian National Congress. A former Lok Sabha MP from Silchar, she left the Congress following her defeat in the 2019 general election. She was later appointed the TMC’s national spokesperson and nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
The daughter of veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Santosh Mohan Dev, Sushmita Dev previously served as president of the All India Mahila Congress.
Her resignation comes amid reported unrest within the Trinamool Congress, with claims that around 20 rebel Lok Sabha MPs are considering forming a separate group and extending support to the ruling NDA. Reports also suggest that a majority of the party’s 80 MLAs have formed a separate faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee, who has emerged as the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly.
Earlier, Roy, who served as the TMC’s chief whip in the Rajya Sabha for 13 years, said widespread public dissatisfaction with the party had prompted his resignation.
In his resignation letter, Roy claimed that voters in West Bengal had turned away from the party due to concerns over corruption, women’s safety and shortcomings in governance across sectors such as education, healthcare, industry, employment and law and order. He also asserted that the BJP had secured an unprecedented electoral mandate in the state and said the newly elected government had begun implementing development and reconstruction initiatives in line with its poll promises.