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‘Sonia Gandhi hasn’t got any letter from Sushmita Dev’: Randeep Surjewala
Sushmita Dev, the daughter of late veteran Congress leader Santosh Mohan Dev, stepped down from the party and wrote to Sonia Gandhi saying she “cherished” her three decade -long association.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said on Monday that party president Sonia Gandhi has not received the resignation letter of Sushmita Dev, the former president of the Congress’ women’s wing. Calling Dev as a dedicated Congress worker, Surjewala said he tried calling her but her phone was switched off. “Congress president Sonia Gandhi has not received any letter from her. She’s mature enough to take her decisions, can’t comment until I speak with her,” Surjewala was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Dev, the daughter of late veteran Congress leader Santosh Mohan Dev, stepped down from the party and wrote to Sonia Gandhi saying she “cherished” her three decade -long association. “Madam, I thank you, personally, for the guidance and the opportunities you gave me. I value the enriching experience,” she said in her letter to Gandhi on Sunday but didn’t specify any reasons for her resignation.
Sushmita Dev’s resignation intensifies the internal crisis in the Congress and it is very likely expected that several leaders or G-23 members will reiterate their demand for a major organisational revamp in the party. Senior leader and former Union minister Kapil Sibal, who is one of the G-23 members, reacted sharply to Dev’s exit and said the Congress was moving on with its eyes wide shut. “Sushmita Dev resigns from primary membership of our Party. While young leaders leave we ‘oldies’ are blamed for our efforts to strengthen it,” Sibal wrote on Twitter.
On the other hand, Congress leader Manish Tewari said that Dev has to give a better explanation for her exit considering her long association with the party and its leaders.
Though it has not been clear where Sushmita Dev will go from here on, people familiar with the development told Hindustan Times on Monday that she might join Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC).
