Former Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dave on Wednesday met Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, hours after she resigned from the Trinamool Congress. Dave, who was a Rajya Sabha MP from West Bengal, resigned from the party and as an MP earlier today, in another jolt to the TMC. After her resignation, photos of her meeting with BJP leader Sarma in Delhi emerged.
Revealing the reason for her meeting with the Assam President, Dave, who was also the national spokesperson for TMC, said that she wanted to continue her political career in Assam. She added that she met Sarma after her resignation from the party and as a member of the House of Representatives.
“When I resigned from the party in the morning, I also had to leave the Rajya Sabha seat as well because it was given by the party. After I resigned from both, I met Himanta, because I want to continue politics in Assam,” she told news agency PTI. Dev further said that whether she joins any party will be the decision of the parties.
“As per my understanding in politics, I want to work in Assam. So I took the decision keeping that in mind. BJP Congress is a national party. Currently I am not a member of any party as I resigned in the morning. So which party I go to is a bipartisan decision, I cannot accept it,” she told news agency ANI. Regarding her meeting with Sarma, Dev said she would clarify the details “when the time comes”. “I cannot talk about the discussions we had on television. When the time is right, I will definitely tell you,” the former TMC leader said. Dev had earlier said that she paid a “courtesy visit” to Hemanta, after knowing him for a long time.
Dev’s resignation is the latest in a series of setbacks faced by the TMC after its loss in the West Bengal Assembly elections. Earlier this week, veteran TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Rai resigned from the Senate, citing “unbridled corruption” and “chaotic governance”. In Bengal, 58 TMC MLAs rebelled. Among them, Ritabrata Banerjee has staked her claim to being the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly. Following this, TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh expressed his desire to secede with the support of 19 rebel MPs and the BJP-led NDA.
“I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m in two boats.”
Giving the reason for her resignation from the party, Dave said she did not want to be in “two boats”, but refused to provide further details, describing the matter as a “long story”.
“I have left the Trinamool Congress. It is a long story why I left the TMC. I don’t want to be in a situation where I am in two boats at the same time,” Dev said, while refusing to say anything about party president and former Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Dev also said that she is a “free woman” now and expressed her gratitude to the people of Bengal.
“I express my gratitude to the people of Bengal, while Rajya Sabha is an indirect election, people still vote,” she said.
