Former Congress MP Sushmita Dev quit the party on Sunday and handed in a letter to chief Sonia Gandhi talking about a “new chapter of public service”. She is likely to meet Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today amid speculation that she will join the Trinamool Congress.

The change in her Twitter bio to “Former Member” of the party was the first clue this morning that she had quit. The Assam leader is reportedly heading to Kolkata to meet with Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee. “She will be the face of the Trinamool in Assam if she joins,” said Trinamool Congress sources.

Sushmita Dev’s letter offered no reason for her quitting the Congress, her party of three decades. The daughter of Assam Congress stalwart and influential Bengali leader Santosh Mohan Dev, she headed the Congress’s women’s wing, the All India Mahila Congress.

She had earlier been an MP from Silchar in Assam, the stronghold of her father.

Ms Dev was among the 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.

The images were shared by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he met with the parents, and many tweeted it.

As Rahul Gandhi’s account was blocked, several Congress leaders, including Ms Dev, changed their display picture to the Congress MP’s in solidarity. The account was restored last week, after which the Congress posted “Satyameva Jayate”.