TMC crisis live: Sushmita Dev’s Rajya Sabha, party exit adds to Mamata Banerjee’s successive tremors

TMC Crisis Live Updates: Former TMC leader Sushmita Dev meets Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“I have left the Trinamool Congress,” Dev told reporters. “What made me leave the party is a long story, and I don’t think that in politics everything has to be revealed. It’s just that I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m in two boats at the same time. The kind of upbringing I’ve had, I can’t stay in one party and serve the other.” “I will not comment on Mamata Didi, that’s for sure,” she added.

She later met Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma in Delhi. Speaking to the media, she said: “I met Assam President Himanta Biswa Sarma because I want to do politics in Assam.”

Dev, a former president of the All India Mahila Congress, joined the TMC in 2021 after leaving the Congress following her defeat in the Lok Sabha in 2019. Her exit comes soon after veteran MP Sukindu Sekhar Rai resigned, alleging “unbridled corruption” and “chaotic governance” in the party.

Live updates of TMC crisis

• The Transitional Military Council is facing its most serious internal crisis to date after losing the state to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent legislative elections. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee met Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday to review the post-opposition alliance strategy and discuss the political situation after a spate of TMC defections following the BJP’s victory in the West Bengal elections.
• Tensions rose last week when Ritabrata Banerjee and 58 other MLAs broke away to demand the post of Leader of the Opposition. The Speaker recognized them as the main opposition bloc and accused the leadership of authoritarian rule, also challenging Abhishek Banerjee’s role.
• The West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department is investigating allegations of forging signatures of TMC MLAs on documents submitted to the Assembly Speaker in connection with the appointment of Suvandeep Chattopadhyay as Leader of the Opposition. The case began after rebel MLAs accused party leaders of fabricating signatures and led to an FIR on charges of cheating, forgery and conspiracy. The Criminal Investigation Department, which took over the investigation and formed the special investigation team, questioned several local law assistants, some of whom reportedly denied that the signatures were real. As part of the investigation, the CID also visited Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat on Tuesday and also sought documents linked to Abhishek Banerjee.
• Another faction of the TMC has emerged – with MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar offering support to the NDA, claiming that she has the support of 19 other MPs. A meeting of 14 TMC MPs was held in Delhi on Monday at Bhupinder Yadav’s residence and Shatabdi Roy’s residence.
• Amid the break-in of MPs and MLAs, Firhad Hakim and Krishna Chakraborty resigned from the posts of mayor of Kolkata and Bidhannagar, respectively.
• TMC leader Jehangir Khan has been arrested near the Indo-Nepal border in connection with an extortion case under investigation.