Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev quits; Kapil Sibal says ‘party moves on with eyes wide open’

New Delhi: Former Lok Sabha MP Sushmita Dev quitting the Congress on Monday drew sharp reactions from party leaders who raised concern over young leaders quitting the party.

Reacting to Dev's resignation, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, “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,” Sibal said.

Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari said it was unfortunate. “If this is true it is most unfortunate. Why @sushmitadevinc? Your erstwhile colleagues & friends especially the person who was National President of @nsui when you contested your first @DUSUofficial elections back in 1991 deserve a better explanation than this laconic letter?”

Both Sibal and Tewari are a part of a group of leaders in Congress who have come to be known as the G-23. These leaders have been demanding an overhaul in the party and elections to decide the next party president.

Earlier in March, the Congress party had dismissed reports of Dev resigning from the party over the issue of seat-sharing in Assam.

Rahul Gandhi, who took over as Congress president, resigned after the party's second consecutive loss to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 General Elections. (UNI)