Why Sushmita Dev switched from Congress to Trinamool

How and why did a Nehru-gandhi family favourite and the most prominent of next generation women leaders of the Congress move to the Trinamool Congress (TMC)?

The surprising switch of 48-year-old Sushmita Dev, who was known for her emphatic defence of the party leadership even as the Congress faced multiple crises, came after a summer of disappointing election performance in her home state of Assam and active wooing by both the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) along with the TMC.

While those familiar with the developments suggest the BJP had been sending feelers to Dev since March this year, it was a family connection between Dev and TMC’S Derek O’brien, that led to Dev switching teams.

The optics of the switch

The Congress knew she had been unhappy but was caught offguard by the switch. But the transition has been less acrimonious than usual, perhaps because, as a person familiar with the development said, Bengal chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee made it clear that the induction must not hamper the recent friendliness and the desire of the Congress and TMC to work together. “The Congress gave me many opportunities as a member of Parliament and as president of Mahila Congress too,” Dev told reporters at her meet-the-press.

The roots of the shift

The TMC’S move to recruit Dev started in April. A month before that, according to a top BJP leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma (who was then not the CM) to reach out to Dev too. Daughter of veteran Congress leader and union minister Santosh Mohan Dev, her name evoked instant recognition in Assam’s Barak valley, dominated by Bengalis but also has a sizeable Muslim population. Dev’s position had become tough after the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Her party strongly opposed the law, but her base of Bengali Hindu constituents were among the most vocal constituencies in favour of the law.