Ex-Congress MP Sushmita Dev joins Trinamool

KOLKATA: Sushmita Dev, former Congress MP — who was serving as president of the All India Mahila Congress — quit the party and joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday.

The former MP from Assam's Silchar is the daughter of former Union minister Santosh Mohan Dev.

Sushmita, along with Derek O'Brien, TMC Rajya Sabha MP, went to the office of the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and held an hour-long discussion following which she was formally inducted into the party. Taking to Twitter, the TMC welcomed the former parliamentarian on board.

"We warmly welcome the former President of All India Mahila Congress @sushmitadevinc to our Trinamool family! Inspired by @MamataOfficial, she joins us today in the presence of our National General Secretary @abhishekaitc & Parliamentary Party Leader, Rajya Sabha, @derekobrienmp," the TMC wrote on its official Twitter handle.

Earlier, she wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi and resigned from Congress, mentioning that she was beginning a "new chapter in my life of public service".

Abhishek, Derek and Sushmita went to Nabanna and met Mamata Banerjee. It was learnt that she had expressed her satisfaction over Dev's induction into the party.

It is supposed that her induction would boost TMC's strength in the north-east. Besides Tripura, TMC is trying to increase its organisational strength in Assam as well. TMC has already approached Akhil Gogoi, MLA and the leader of the anti-CAA movement to join the party. However, he refused to join the party but did not rule out the possibility of forming an alliance.

Born in a political family, Dev had managed the Mahila Congress. Educated in Delhi and England, she is a good speaker. Experts said it was to be seen how TMC utilises her and uses her pan-India image. After joining TMC, Dev said she was happy to talk to Mamata Banerjee and would do her best to serve the party. On Tuesday, she is likely to hold a press conference in Delhi.