Sushmita Dev resigns as MP, meets Himanta Sarma as Trinamool crisis spirals

2 min readKolkataUpdated: Jun 10, 2026 12:25 PM IST

In another blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, senior leader Sushmita Dev resigned as the party’s Rajya Sabha MP today. In a letter to Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan, Sushmita Dev has requested that her resignation be accepted with immediate effect. Earlier, senior Trinamool leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy gave up his Rajya Sabha membership.

A prominent leader from Assam, Sushmita Dev met the northeastern state’s Chief Minister and BJP leader, Himanta Biswa Sarma, sparking speculation about her next move.

The development comes amid a massive meltdown within the Trinamool Congress, which suffered a crushing defeat in the recently held West Bengal Assembly election. Barely a month after losing power in Bengal, Trinamool has started unravelling. Earlier, 60 of its 80 MLAs rebelled against Mamata Banerjee’s choice of Sovandeb Chatterjee as the Leader of the Opposition. Shortly after, a rebel faction claimed that 20 out of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs want to side with the NDA. And now, two Trinamool Rajya Sabha MPs have resigned.

Sushmita Dev joined the Trinamool Congress in 2021. Earlier, she was with the Congress and served as an MLA in Assam and as a Lok Sabha MP. The daughter of late Santosh Mohan Dev, senior Congress leader and a former Union Minister, Sushmita Dev is known to be a feisty leader in Assam.

Ravik Bhattacharya is a highly experienced and award-winning journalist currently serving as the Chief of Bureau of The Indian Express, Kolkata. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, Ravik possesses deep expertise across a wide range of critical subjects and geographical areas.

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Sukrita Baruah is a Principal Correspondent for The Indian Express, based in Guwahati. From this strategic hub, she provides comprehensive, ground-level coverage of India's North East, a region characterized by its complex ethnic diversity, geopolitical significance, and unique developmental challenges.

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Tags:

Mamata Banerjee

Sushmita Dev

Trinamool Congress