Sushmita Dev quits Rajya Sabha after Sukhendu Sekhar Roy's exit, intensifying turmoil within Mamata Banerjee's TMC. Photo: ANI
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev has resigned as Rajya Sabha MP. This is the second big exit for the party in a week, after Sukhendu Sekhar Roy resigned earlier. According to reports the MP has met Assam Chief Minsiter Himanta Biswa Sarma and is likely to join the BJP. The development comes after 61 party MLAs rebelled and supported rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee. Sushmita Dev was previously a Congress MP from Silchar, Assam. She left INC in 2019 and later joined TMC in 2021. She was first appointed as the party’s national spokesperson and later sent to the upper house of parliament.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at her residence on Tuesday, later went to the residence of party MP and general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Both Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee were present at the meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders on Monday.
In a post on X, Trinamool Congress spoke about the warmth between the two leaders.
“The smiles said what words could not…a bond strengthened through decades of dedicated service to the nation. Our Hon’ble Chairperson with Sonia Gandhi Ji, today in Delhi.”
The meeting between the two leaders took place on a day a CID team reached Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kolkata as part of its probe into the alleged forged signature case.
Mamata Banerjee has been facing internal troubles since Trinamool Congress lost West Bengal assembly polls.
Her decision on the choice of Leader of Opposition has been defied by a large section of MLAs, who have been recognised as the opposition in the assembly. The troubles have mounted further due to dissension among party’s parliamentarians with a group, claiming support of 20 Lok Sabha, seeking to form a separate bloc.
A CID team last week visited the residence of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee in connection with the alleged signature forgery case. The state CID has constituted a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged forgery of signatures of Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators.Abhishek Banerjee has been asked to present the party’s original resolution copy sent to the West Bengal Assembly Speaker over the appointment of party office bearers, officials said.
Trinamool Congress (AITC) sources said Abhishek Banerjee has responded to the agency by sending a formal letter through his legal counsel.Police sources said that SIT is being spearheaded by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the West Bengal Police to ensure a thorough investigation into the matter.The state CID has recorded statements of 13 Trinamool Congress MLAs as part of its probe into the alleged signature forgery case.
Officials said that three legislators stated that the signatures in the Meeting Resolution Book of May 6 were not done by them.
They said MLA from Canning Purba has stated that he did not attend the meeting held in Kolkata.CID later asked Abhishek Banerjee to appear before the investigating officer with the original meeting resolution book.Abhishek Banerjee informed the Speaker on May 9 that the party had taken the decision to appoint office-bearers during a meeting of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) legislative party.Subsequently, on May 18, the Principal Secretary of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly wrote to Abhishek Banerjee seeking submission of the minutes and resolution of the meeting, along with signatures of MLAs present during the decision-making process.
On May 20, Abhishek Banerjee submitted a copy of the meeting resolution book with an attendance sheet containing the signatures of the members present in the concerned meeting, which mentioned that 70 MLAs were present at the meeting held on May 6. On May 27, two AITC MLAs filed a complaint before the Speaker alleging that no resolution had been adopted regarding the LoP selection on May 6 and that they had only signed the meeting resolution book on May 19.
The complainants also alleged that the resolution dated May 6 was “manufactured and fabricated,” with as many as 14 signatures appearing in block letters.
(With inputs from ANI)
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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