ASSAM’s Political Circles Not Surprised After Sushmita Dev Joins TMC

SUSHMITA Dev, 48, who had represented  Silchar, part of Bangla speaking  Barak Valley in southern Assam for five years in the Lok Sabha till  2019,  migrated to West Bengal’s ruling TMC from the Congress. Sushmita had annoyed  Congress leaders in her home state by supporting CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act)  and was the party’s high command’s loyalist. She was feeling suffocated at 24 Akbar Road in New Delhi, the headquarters of India’s Oldest political outfit. Despite heading the All-India  Mahila Congress, she was side-lined in her home state where she was an elected member of the state legislative assembly. “My joining TMC is unconditional; will take any responsibility given by Mamata”,  Sushmita Dev said at a news conference in Kolkata on Tuesday. Her father was Congress leader Santosh Mohan Dev who was a Central Minister during the Congress regime. She however said that she has no grievance against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. She has joined the TMC as she found it to be an “excellent platform” for her purpose to work for the area she belongs to. Following Dev’s resignation, Congress appointed Netta D’Souza as interim president for the women’s wing until a full-time president is chosen. Sushmita Dev, it may be recalled, holds a B.A.(Hons) from Miranda House, is Bar-at-Law an LLB (Corporate and Commercial Laws) from the University of Delhi. She has enrolled in Inns of Courts School of Law, London and Kings College, London University, U.K. Her mother is Bithika Dev, a legislator of Silchar of Assam assembly. TMC high command hopes she will be able to fight the ruling BJP in her home state. Her joining  TMC may also affect relations between  TMC and Congress which together are trying to float a front of opposition parties against Narendra Modi-led NDA. In Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) may feel alarmed, if the TMC adopts an Assam-like strategy in the state. In Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has also reason not to be happy over its attempt at poaching  Congress activists as Congress and the Bihar-based party enjoys cordial tie-ups for several years. Anyway, Congress, the main opposition grouping in Assam, will be impacted as the TMC will eat into its secular vote banks, says an observer. Edited by PKC

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