New Delhi : In a significant political development, Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev resigned from both the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Upper House of Parliament on Wednesday, becoming the second TMC parliamentarian to quit the party within a week.

Confirming her decision, Dev told reporters that her resignation extended beyond Parliament. “I have resigned not only from Rajya Sabha but from Trinamool Congress, and that is the principal thing to do,” she said.

Soon after tendering her resignation, Dev met Himanta Biswa Sarma in New Delhi, triggering speculation about a possible entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Neither Dev nor the BJP has officially commented on her future political plans.

In her letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan, Dev requested that her resignation be accepted with immediate effect.

Dev joined the TMC in 2021 after ending her long association with the Congress. A former Lok Sabha MP from Silchar, she had left the Congress following her defeat in the 2019 general election. The TMC subsequently appointed her as its national spokesperson and later nominated her to the Rajya Sabha.

The daughter of veteran Congress leader Santosh Mohan Dev, Sushmita Dev previously served as president of the All India Mahila Congress and was regarded as one of the prominent faces of the party in the Northeast.

Her resignation comes at a time of mounting challenges for the TMC. The development follows the recent exit of Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, who stepped down from the Rajya Sabha and the party after serving as the TMC’s chief whip in the Upper House for more than a decade.

Reports of internal dissent have also intensified, with a group of rebel Lok Sabha MPs reportedly exploring the possibility of forming a separate bloc and extending support to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). In West Bengal, a faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has also emerged amid growing divisions within the party.

In his resignation letter earlier this month, Roy cited public dissatisfaction over issues including corruption, women’s safety, governance and employment, claiming that voters had increasingly turned away from the ruling party in West Bengal.

The resignation of Sushmita Dev is being viewed as another major setback for the TMC, particularly in the Northeast, where she had been one of the party’s most prominent leaders and public faces.