Silchar: Former Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev on Thursday joined BJP, ending weeks of speculation.She was inducted at BJP’s West Bengal headquarters in Kolkata in the presence of senior party leaders.Soon after joining, Dev praised PM Narendra Modi’s leadership and said the pace of development under BJP-led govts influenced her decision.“There is no denying the development that took place across the country under PM Modi’s leadership and in states governed by double-engine govts,” she said after her induction.Dev’s move came nearly a month after she quit TMC and resigned from the Rajya Sabha on June 10. Her exit triggered ripples in Cachar district, where the TMC’s Silchar office was later shut. Several local TMC leaders and workers also left the party and signalled their intention to join BJP.A prominent Barak Valley leader, Dev is the daughter of veteran Congress leader late Santosh Mohan Dev. She is also a seven-time Lok Sabha MP from Silchar and a former Union minister.Dev began her political career in Congress, serving as national spokesperson and president of the All India Mahila Congress. She won the Silchar Lok Sabha seat in 2014, defeating BJP’s Kabindra Purkayastha, but lost the 2019 election to BJP’s Rajdeep Roy.In Aug 2021, she quit Congress and joined TMC under then West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. The party later sent her to the Rajya Sabha and tasked her with expanding its organisation in the northeast, particularly Assam and Tripura.Her switch to BJP marks another realignment in the Barak Valley, where the Dev family has long wielded influence.
Dev was inducted at BJP’s West Bengal headquarters in Kolkata in the presence of senior party leaders
Dev was inducted at BJP’s West Bengal headquarters in Kolkata in the presence of senior party leaders
