TMC MP Sushmita Dev resigns from Rajya Sabha, meets Himanta in yet another setback for Mamata
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee suffered another jolt amid the ongoing rebellion with party leader Sushmita Dev resigning as the Rajya Sabha MP on Wednesday. She tendered her resignation to Vice President CP Radhakrishnan in a letter. Sushmita Dev’s resignation has been accepted.
Amid speculation over her political future, a photograph of a smiling Sushmita Dev with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at his Delhi residence surfaced online, fuelling speculations of her joining the BJP.
“I do hereby resign from the membership of Rajya Sabha, which may please be accepted with immediate effect. I convey my sincere gratitude to Your Excellency, Hon’ble Deputy Chairman and all functionaries of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat extending all help and cooperation during my tenure as a Member of the Rajya Sabha,” the resignation letter read.
Sushmita Dev on why she quit Rajya Sabha membership
When asked whether the meeting indicated a political connection with Assam, Dev responded with a brief remark: “There’s only an Assam connection.”
After the meeting, Sushmita Dev told the reporters that the decision to resign was entirely her own and not influenced by anyone else. Explaining her move, she said there were several reasons behind the decision, though not all of them needed to be made public.
“What prompted me to take this decision is a very long story, and in politics, not everything needs to be revealed. I do not want to be in a situation where I am sailing in two boats. I have never remained in one party while serving another. This decision is entirely my own,” she said.
The resignation marks the second departure from the Rajya Sabha within a week for the Trinamool Congress. The first major setback came when Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, who had served as the party’s chief whip in the Upper House for 13 years, resigned from Parliament after sending a strongly worded letter to party chief Mamata Banerjee.
In his resignation letter, Roy claimed that the people of West Bengal had turned against the Trinamool Congress because of what he described as widespread corruption, the party’s failure to ensure women’s safety, and deteriorating conditions in key sectors such as education, healthcare, industry, employment and law and order.
The TMC’s tally in the Rajya Sabha now stands at 11 following the two resignations.
Repeated setbacks to Mamata Banerjee
This comes after the rebellion in the West Bengal assembly, where 58 MLAs reportedly backed rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee.
Dev, a former Congress Lok Sabha MP from Assam’s Silchar constituency, joined the Trinamool Congress in 2021 after losing the 2019 general election. She quickly emerged as a prominent face of the party, serving as its national spokesperson before being nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
