GUWAHATI, August 16: In a major setback to the Congress in Assam, All India Mahila Congress president and former Silchar MP, Sushmita Dev resigned from the primary membership of the party and joined Trinamool Congress on Monday.
According to reports, Dev had flown to Kolkata and met Trinamool Congress president Abhishek Banerjee on Monday morning. Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member and national spokesperson Derek O’ Brien was also present at the meeting.
Dev’s joining the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress was confirmed after the party stated on Twitter, “We warmly welcome the former president of All India Mahila Congress Sushmita Dev to our Trinamool family! ….She joins us today in the presence of our national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee and parliamentary party leader, Rajya Sabha, Derek O’ Brien.”
In her resignation letter to All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi, Dev said she was “beginning a new chapter of public service” and expressed gratitude to the AICC chief for her “guidance and the opportunities” that were given to her.
“I cherish my three-decade-long association with the Indian National Congress. May I take this opportunity to thank the party, all its leaders, members, and workers who have been a part of my memorable journey,” she wrote in the letter.
Daughter of Congress stalwart, Santosh Mohan Dev, Sushmita had earlier been elected MP from the Silchar seat, which had been the stronghold of her father.
Notably, Sushmita was a veteran in the Congress with her association with the party spanning about three decades.
Reacting to the development, Assam PCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah said, “She was like my sister and if the member of a family leaves the house, it is certainly a setback. I think the Assembly poll outcome (loss) might be a reason for her resignation.”
“However, Congress has had setbacks in the past. We will again try to revive the party’s base in Barak Valley…will hold meetings with the party leaders there in the next fortnight,” Borah said.
Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy termed the move as a “personal call”. “It is rather shocking because four generations of her family have been associated with Congress,” Roy said.
Assam Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia, while confirming the development, said that Dev’s resignation would definitely be a “loss for the party.”
Saikia speculated that Dev could be leading the Trinamool Congress in Tripura, because her father was an MP from Tripura at one time…their family has a good relationship with the people of Tripura as well. Besides, Trinamool Congress does not have a good leadership in Tripura.”
Assam PCC working president and Karimganj North MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha said that while he could not exactly figure out what could be the reason for Dev quitting the party, “there was apparently some discontentment over seat sharing (with an ally) and distribution of tickets, prior to the Assembly elections earlier this year that could have led her to quit the party.”
