Sushmita Dev quits Congress to join TMC
All India Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev has joined TMC (Trinamool Congress) in Kolkata. The move came hours after she resigned from the Congress party on Monday. Ms. Dev joined TMC’s national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
Sources report that Dev was dissatisfied with Congress party dealings and had been watching closely TMC’s working in the North East and slowly panning in the region. TMC too had been searching a “bhumiputra” for the party in northeastern states.
Sushmita Dev tweeted soon after joining TMC, “Will give it all I have got.” TMC Party senior MP Kakoli Ghosh Dostidar said, “We really looking forward to working with her as she is an experienced leader.”
Ms. Dev made headlines for her stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which was different from the Congress party’s ideology, of which she was a part at that time. Dev strongly backed CAA and said that people in the Barak Valley were in favor of the Act. She also created a stir when she refused to propagate “no CAA” agenda.
She had argued that people in the region have experienced the pain of partition first hand and CAA would lead to Bangladeshi Hindus citizenship. “…we know what it means to be a migrant. I am in favor of such a law, but this act [CAA] is not capable of granting citizenship to anyone. I would support it with some amendments, especially if it includes Muslims,” Dev had said.
Related Posts
Congress party veteran Kapil Sibal tweeted in reference to Dev’s resignation, “Sushmita Dev resigns from the 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.”
Sushmita Dev is the daughter of Santosh Mohan Dev, a seven-time Parliament member. Dev was labeled as the face of the Congress party in Assam’s Barak Valley, the predominantly Bengali-speaking community.
