Trinamool Congress leader Sushmita Dev on Wednesday resigned from the post of Rajya Sabha MP, the second such jolt for the Mamata Banerjee-led party this week after veteran TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Rai resigned from the Senate seat.
Rai resigned from the post of Rajya Sabha MP citing “unbridled corruption” and “chaotic governance” of the party.
Sushmita Dev is the former president of the All India Mahila Congress and lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to BJP candidate Rajdeep Roy, prompting her to resign from the Congress party and enter the TMC in 2021.
She also serves as the national spokesperson for TMC.
Mamata’s fight to keep TMC together
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee faces the biggest challenge ever of keeping her party intact after losing the state to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
In successive internal tremors, Mamata Banerjee’s position as the top leader of the party that has been in power for three consecutive terms is under threat with MLAs and MPs breaking out.
First, MLA Ritabrata Banerjee claimed as the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly with the support of 58 legislators last week, then Member of Parliament (MP), Kakoli Ghosh, publicly expressed his desire to secede with the support of 19 rebel MPs and the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Rai, who is among the most recognizable faces of the TMC in Parliament, announced his decision in Delhi hours before the India Caucus meeting, which will be attended by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
In a statement, Rai referred to what he described as rampant corruption in governance and the party organization, and said that popular anger against the former TMC regime had reached alarming levels.
