Kolkata: Former Assam MP Sushmita Dev, shortly after quitting the Congress, joined Monday the Trinamool Congress (TMC). The former MP joined the TMC in the presence of the party’s national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee here. Sushmita Dev had been serving as the national spokesperson of the Congress and its women’s wing chief.
Taking to Twitter, the TMC welcomed the former parliamentarian to its camp. “We warmly welcome the former president of All India Mahila Congress @sushmitadevinc to our Trinamool family! Inspired by @MamataOfficial, she joins us today in the presence of our National General Secretary @abhishekaitc & Parliamentary Party Leader, Rajya Sabha, @derekobrienmp,” the TMC wrote on its official Twitter handle.
Dev had sent her resignation letter Sunday to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. She did not offer any reason for quitting the grand old party. In her letter to Sonia, Dev said she was beginning a ‘new chapter in my life of public service’.
She visited TMC MP Abhishek’s office at Camac Street here earlier in the day.
“Dev visited Abhishek Banerjee’s Camac Street office during the day and held a meeting with him in the presence of other senior functionaries. She may also meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna later today,” the TMC leader said.
Meanwhile, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Bora told reporters in Guwahati that the former MP, who was also a national spokesperson of the grand old party, had to quit as ‘she is suffering from depression’.
Bora also asserted that Dev was given ‘adequate importance’ by the party high command. He asserted any ‘political reason’ couldn’t have prompted her exit.
“This (resignation) is a sign of her depression. One cannot comprehend how much a defeat can affect a person, if he or she hasn’t seen Sushmita. Perhaps, she is lacking the self-confidence to re-build the party’s support base in Silchar once again,” Bora claimed.
Dev lost her Silchar Lok Sabha constituency to BJP’s Rajdeep Roy in 2019 general election.