National, June 10: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) faced another blow on June 10 after Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev resigned from the Upper House, becoming the second member of the party’s parliamentary ranks to step down within a week amid signs of growing internal unrest.
Dev, a former Congress Lok Sabha MP from Silchar, joined the Trinamool Congress in 2021 after leaving the Congress following her defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She later emerged as one of the party’s prominent national leaders, serving as its national spokesperson before being elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Her resignation comes shortly after senior TMC leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray resigned from both the Upper House and the party. In his resignation letter, Ray cited corruption, governance failures and increasing public dissatisfaction with the functioning of the party.
The back-to-back resignations have intensified concerns over internal dissent within the Mamata Banerjee-led party. Reports suggest that dissatisfaction among a section of TMC MPs has spread beyond the state unit to Parliament, adding to the challenges confronting the party.
Earlier this week, Ray had alleged that the party had faced public rejection due to corruption, shortcomings in governance, law and order issues and atrocities against women. He had also praised the newly elected BJP government in West Bengal for initiating developmental measures in the state.
Dev’s exit is expected to further reduce the Trinamool Congress’ strength in the Rajya Sabha at a time when the party is dealing with a broader political crisis marked by recent electoral setbacks and indications of factionalism within its ranks.
Neither Sushmita Dev nor the Trinamool Congress had issued a detailed statement explaining the reasons behind her resignation at the time of reporting.
