Sushmita Dev president of All India Mahila Congress Quits Cong

Sushmita Dev, president of All India Mahila Congress, on Monday resigned from the party, following which she left their WhatsApp group and changed her Twitter bio to former leader of the grand old party. Dev had hit the headlines over her stance on Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which differs from the party.

Dev had backed CAA citing that people in the Barak Valley are in its favour. She also sparked a row by refusing to wear the ‘no CAA’ gamosa. The leader had said that people in the region had seen the struggle of victims of partition and CAA would ensure Bangladeshi Hindus citizenship.

“…we know what it means to be a migrant. I am in favour of such a law, but this act [CAA] is not capable of granting citizenship to anyone. I would support it with some amendments, especially if it includes Muslims,” Dev had said.

Reacting to her resignation, Kapil Sibal, one of the dissenters, tweeted: “Sushmita Dev resigns from primary membership of our Party. While young leaders leave we ‘oldies’ are blamed for our efforts to strengthen it. The Party moves on with : Eyes Wide Shut.”

She is the daughter of seven-time parliamentarian Santosh Mohan Dev, and was considered the face of the Congress in Assam’s largely Bengali-speaking Barak Valley.

The former MP’s Twitter handle was also recently suspended by the microblogging site for violating its policy. The move came after Twitter blocked former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for posting a photograph of the parents of a nine-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in Delhi. In defiance, Dev and several other prominent Congress leaders changed their display picture to Gandhi’s and shared the same photograph.