In another setback for the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev resigned from the Upper House on Wednesday. She is the second TMC Member of Parliament to step down within a week, following the resignation of Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, a close aide of party chief Mamata Banerjee.
Later, talking to the media, she said "I have resigned not only from Rajya Sabha but from Trinamool Congress, and that is the principal thing to do."
Soon after submitting her resignation, Dev met Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in New Delhi, fuelling speculation about a possible move to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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 leaving the Congress party. A former Lok Sabha MP from Assam's Silchar constituency, she quit Congress following her defeat in the 2019 general election.
The TMC later appointed her as its national spokesperson and subsequently nominated her to the Rajya Sabha.
The daughter of veteran Congress leader and former Union Cabinet Minister Santosh Mohan Dev, Sushmita Dev previously served as president of the All India Mahila Congress.
Her resignation comes amid growing turmoil within the Trinamool Congress, with 20 rebel Lok Sabha MPs reportedly considering forming a separate group and extending support to the ruling NDA.
A majority of the party's 80 MLAs have formed a separate faction under the leadership of Ritabrata Banerjee, who has emerged as the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly.
Earlier, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, TMC's chief whip in the Rajya Sabha for 13 years, cited widespread public dissatisfaction with the party while announcing his resignation.
In his letter, Roy claimed that the people of West Bengal had rejected the party over issues such as corruption, women's safety and failures in governance across sectors including education, healthcare, industry, employment, and law and order.
"The voters have, for the first time in Bengal’s history, given the Bharatiya Janata Party a massive victory in terms of seats.
The newly elected government has already begun working to implement multiple programmes for Bengal’s overall development and reconstruction, in line with its election promises," he said in the letter.