President of the Mahila Congress and former MP from Silchar (Assam), Sushmita Dev’s association with the party began at birth, as her late father Santosh Mohan also was a key member of INC. She escalated to the top in 2017, when the party began to struggle to stay afloat. But she has now quit it in less than 4 years.
There are many speculations regarding this decision, as she failed to clarify it in the resignation letter she addressed to Party President Sonia Gandhi. While she thanked the veteran leader for her guidance and mentioned that she wished to “start a new chapter in life”, she certainly didn’t seem interested in leaving the political sphere, which can only point us to one broad reason for resigning – dissatisfaction with the party itself, not the political life.
In February earlier this year, during the Legislative Assembly Elections in Assam, she was seemingly disgruntled about the ticket distribution and seat allocation. Previously, her pro-CAA stance conflicted with the party’s official and national stance. With the consistent losses the party has faced and a constant decline in the public image, she may even have been concerned of the continuity of her own position.
This isn’t the first time in recent months that INC has faced major losses. Some have captured national attention, like Jyotiraditya Scindia’s transfer to its rival BJP and the subsequent allocation of an entire ministry to him.
Many go overlooked, but they are a grave concern for the party, which isn’t just losing local leaders, but also the unique and unparalleled political support they extend. Since the 2021 Assam elections, two more prominent leaders (besides Dev) have migrated to the BJP — Rupjyoti Kurmi and Sushanta Borgohain.
This kind of unprecedented turnover is alarming, to say the least, and gives an insight into not just the poor party operations, but also the lack of good leadership.
As for Sushmita Dev, she met with TMC President Mamata Banerjee this afternoon and formally got inducted into the party. Her transition into the Trinamool National Congress should not be quite as hard as someone who joined Congress’s direct rival BJP, but only time will show what’s to come for a woman who just left a national leadership position in a weak party to join as a new member in a strong party.