Former Congress MP Sushmita Dev quits party

Former Congress MP Sushmita Dev today quit the party and wrote a letter to chief Sonia Gandhi. The change in her Twitter bio to “Former Member” of the party was the first clue this morning that she has quit.

Sushmita Dev’s letter offered no reason for her quitting the Congress, her party of three decades, simply saying she was “beginning a new chapter of public service”. She headed the Congress’s women’s wing, the All India Mahila Congress. Reports said she also exited a party WhatsApp group.

Ms Dev was among Congress leaders whose Twitter handle was locked over a post showing images of the parents of a nine-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in Delhi.