Senior Congress leader Sushmita Dev quits, to join TMC

New Delhi: Congress leader Sushmita Dev has quit the party and sent her resignation letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, sources said on Monday. Reports say she is set to  join the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday.

Sushmita Dev, a former MP from Assam who has been heading the Congress’ women’s wing — All India Mahila Congress — for long, offered no reason for her quitting the party.

In her letter to Gandhi on Sunday, Sushmita Dev said she was beginning a “new chapter in my life of public service”.

Sushmita Dev has also changed her Twitter bio to former member of the party and former chief of the Mahila Congress.

Dev was a member of the 16th Lok Sabha from the Silchar constituency in Assam. She was also a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2014.

Sushmita Dev is the daughter of veteran Bengali Congress leader Santosh Mohan Dev and her mother is Bithika Dev, a former legislator of Silchar. Her father was a Member of Parliament and a Union Cabinet minister.

Also read | Assam CM invites ULFA (I) chief for peace talks

Reacting to the news of her resignation, veteran Congress leader Kapil Sibal tweeted: “Sushmita Dev Resigns from primary membership of our Party While young leaders leave we ‘oldies’ are blamed for our efforts to strengthen it The Party moves on with : Eyes Wide Shut.”

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that Dev now set to  join the TMC as she is reportedly in Kolkata to meet with the party supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee. She will be the face of the Trinamool in Assam if she joins.

To read this article in Assamese. Click here!