Sushmita Dev, a former Silchar MP and Rajya Sabha member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), has quit the party [1].

Dev's departure marks a significant shift for the TMC in West Bengal, as the party faces internal realignment following her resignation from the upper house of Parliament.

Dev confirmed her exit from the party on June 10, 2024 [2]. This announcement followed her resignation from the Rajya Sabha, which took place on June 9, 2024 [3]. The exit represents the second such departure from the party within a single week [3].

In a media interview released by NDTV, Dev addressed the motivations behind her decision to leave the party led by Mamata Banerjee. She said that she did not want to be in a situation where she was aligned with two conflicting positions, a dilemma she described as being in "two boats at the same time" [4].

When asked for further details regarding the specific circumstances of her departure, Dev remained vague. "It's a long story why I left TMC," Dev said [5].

While some reports indicate she refused to comment on her former leader, her statements to NDTV suggest a conflict of interest or a divergence in political direction that made her continued membership untenable [4, 5]. The former MP has not yet specified which political path she will take following her resignation from both the party and the legislature.

“"I do not want to be in a situation where I am in two boats at the same time."”

The resignation of Sushmita Dev highlights ongoing volatility within the Trinamool Congress. By resigning from the Rajya Sabha immediately prior to leaving the party, Dev avoided potential legal or procedural conflicts regarding her seat. Her reference to being in 'two boats' suggests a struggle to reconcile her personal political convictions with the party's current trajectory, signaling a potential trend of high-profile exits from the TMC.