Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sushmita Dev resigned from her Rajya Sabha membership on Wednesday, marking the second major setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led party within a week, following the resignation of veteran parliamentarian Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, who had earlier stepped down citing allegations of “unbridled corruption” and “anarchical rule” within the party.

Dev, a former president of the All India Mahila Congress, had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket but lost to BJP candidate Rajdeep Roy. She subsequently quit the Congress and joined the Trinamool Congress in 2021, where she went on to serve as a national spokesperson and a prominent party face at the national level.

Her resignation adds to growing political turbulence within the TMC, which has recently witnessed internal exits and public dissent from senior leaders. The timing of her move, coming so soon after Ray’s resignation from the Rajya Sabha, has intensified speculation over internal instability and shifting political alignments within the party’s national leadership structure.

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Following her resignation, photographs surfaced showing Dev meeting Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Delhi, further fuelling political discussions about possible realignments. Sarma, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has not issued a detailed public statement regarding the meeting at the time of reporting.

The developments come at a sensitive time for the TMC, as it faces scrutiny over recent resignations and allegations raised by departing leaders. The party has not yet issued an official response addressing Dev’s resignation or the broader concerns raised by Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.

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