For many in the Congress, Sushmita Dev's exit from the party cuts deeper than the defection of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who brought down the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh as he left the party in the middle of the pandemic in 2020.
This is not because Dev's decision to leave the party and join the Trinamool Congress is seen as a bigger "betrayal" than Scindia. Quite the reverse, they don't see it as a betrayal at all. It has affected people in the party more because they perfectly understand why the former Mahila Congress chief did what she did.
The Quint spoke to several people in the Mahila Congress, the Assam Pradesh Congress and other wings of the party who had worked closely with Dev to understand why her exit is being seen as different from that of Scindia, Jitin Prasada, her former Assam Congress colleagues Rupjyoti Kurmi and Sushanta Borgohain, all of whom joined the BJP, or even Abhijit Mukherjee, who has also joined the Trinamool Congress like her.
There are at least three different narratives that emerge. Though these are mainly focused on Sushmita Dev's exit, these may point to broader trends within the Congress.
'She Didn’t Betray the Party'
'A politician par excellence...' 'A mentor who helped me in a tough time...' — these are some of the ways people who worked closely with Sushmita Dev, describe her.
Few can argue that Dev brought the All India Mahila Congress – a frontal organisation of the Congress party – into the centre stage by leading protests on women's issues and raising women's matters frequently.
Even in Assam, she managed to win in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections at a time when so many others were losing and the party hit its lowest ever tally of 44 seats nationally.
"She lost in 2019 because of the Congress' stand against the CAA. Then because of the party's alliance with Badruddin Ajmal and the seats allotted to the AIUDF, she couldn't do anything for her supporters in the Barak Valley in the 2020 Assembly polls. Still the Congress did better here than in the turf of the glorified Upper Assam leaders," says a party functionary close to Dev in Assam.
A little context is important here. Dev's father Santosh Mohan Dev was among the tallest leaders of Bengali origin in Assam. He played an important role in settling Hindu refugees in the area and won five times from the Silchar Lok Sabha seat.
Some say that he used the new Hindu settlers to edge out a Muslim political rival in the area.
It is true that Santosh Mohan Dev's politics in the area was closely tied to the interests of Bengali Hindus and he contributed a great deal to making this a solid vote bank that stayed with the Congress even when it was facing reverses in the Brahmaputra Valley.
Sushmita Dev though had to navigate a very difficult political terrain in comparison, when the main challenge to the Congress wasn't the ethno-nationalist AGP but the BJP, whose primary base in Assam lay among Bengali Hindus of the Barak Valley.
To add to that, Congress was also fighting for space with the AIUDF among Bengali speaking Muslims.
Two developments hurt Sushmita's prospects deeply in the region — the Congress' decision to go all out against the CAA in its campaign for the 2019 Assam elections and its decision to align with Badruddin Ajmal's AIUDF.
"The party basically thought it would lose the Bengali Hindu vote entirely to the BJP due to CAA and instead chose to woo Assamese speaking voters besides a consolidation of Muslim votes. But the anti-CAA push didn't work out at all in the Brahmaputra Valley," a leader closely involved with the Assam campaign said.
In fact, according to the Lokniti-CSDS survey in Assam, the Congress alliance did better among Bengali Hindus, getting 23 percent of their votes compared to 17 percent among Assamese Hindus.
Dev's supporters say that while it's understandable for the party to have taken an anti-CAA stand, it could have been downplayed during the election.
‘If Sushmita Doesn’t See a Future in the Congress, Then Who Has a Future in the party?'
Another major narrative that has emerged is the lack of communication between party leaders and the high command.
"They kept her in the cold even though their decisions (like going all out against CAA) destroyed her politics in her area. She has a base and cadres to think of," said a party leader.
"Politics is not charity. We all fight for our own relevance," the leader added.
Sushmita Dev has become a case in point for many who are flagging the communication gap within the party.
"She was once part of Rahul Gandhi's inner circle. She was part of the 10-member committee for communication strategy formed by Sonia Gandhi in 2017. If she is not being listened to, then what can one say about others?" said another party functionary.
"She's not a spent force like many of the G-23 leaders. She has many decades of politics still left. If she doesn't see a future in the Congress, then who has a future in the Congress really?" asked the functionary.
The functionary further added that this isn't a question for Dev, but it is for the party to reflect on.
To be fair, the party leadership did eventually agree to Dev's main demand — of being made the in-charge for Tripura. But apparently, by then it was too late.
Barely a few days after Dev's resignation, the Congress appointed Jharkhand leader Dr Ajoy Kumar as the in-charge for Tripura, Sikkim and Nagaland.
The Curse of Delhi
Some in the party say that Sushmita Dev is yet another Congress leader to fall victim to the 'curse of Delhi'. They say that many Congress leaders who occupy key national positions and get stuck in Delhi, end up suffering where it really counts — on their home ground.
Having lost from Silchar in 2019 and marginalised due to the BJP's dominance in the area, Dev is now likely to shift her focus and be the TMC's CM face in Tripura, where Bengali migrants are in a majority.
Another leader whose fortunes seem to have suffered due to his national responsibility is Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala.
As the in-charge for communications, Surjewala has been stuck with a difficult and full time responsibility, especially given the anti-Congress slant of a big chunk of the media.
His fortunes in Haryana have been affected — he lost from his pocket borough Kaithal in the 2019 Assembly polls, even as his rival faction led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda did well. He also came third in the Jind Assembly bypoll in January 2019.
Yet another example is the powerful Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal. Despite being a key pointsperson of the Gandhis', Venugopal has been losing influence in his home state Kerala. In fact in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the only seat that the Congress-led UDF lost was Venugopal's area of influence Alappuzha.
Coming back to Sushmita Dev, her sympathisers in the Congress essentially see her as a victim of the party's working culture and not someone who has let the party down like Scindia.
However, they do draw solace from the fact that she didn't join the BJP, even though she easily could have, given that she has a decent equation with Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
"Himanta would have accommodated her easily. It would have helped him increase his dominance in his own party by bringing in someone he can trust," said an Assam Congress functionary.
"She chose the harder path instead of selling out," said Dev's colleague in Mahila Congress.
However, it remains to be seen if her exit prompts any course correction within the party.
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