"Relationship over": BJP MP says will divorce wife who joined Trinamool

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

Kolkata, Dec 21, 2020:    The wife of a BJP MP joined Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, going upstream in a tidal wave of defections from the party to the BJP ahead of the state elections. Shortly after Sujata Mondal Khan joined the Trinamool today, her husband Saumitra Khan, an MP from Bengal, said he would send a divorce notice as "politics had ended his marriage".

 

Saumitra Khan, earlier in the Trinamool, won in 2014 from the Bishnupur constituency and is chief of BJP’s youth wing Yuva Morcha. His wife Sujata is credited with his win in last year’s national election when he was barred by a court from entering his constituency Bishnupur as a condition for bail in a criminal case. She ran his campaign single-handedly and he won.

Sujata Khan was also a BJP member and even shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the past. She claimed she did not get acknowledgement despite taking many risks to ensure her husband’s win.

"I want to breathe. I want respect. I want to be an able leader of an able party. I want to work with my beloved Didi," the former teacher told reporters today. She complained that "newly inducted, misfit and corrupt leaders"  were getting more importance in the BJP.

"Despite enduring physical attacks, sacrificing so much to get my husband elected to Parliament, I got nothing in return," she added.

Saumitra Khan, holding a separate press conference, broke down and said he was filing for divorce. "A 10-year relationship has ended because of politics. I will now work harder for the BJP," he said, emphasizing that he was not about to follow his wife to the Trinamool.

Sujata Khan said it was up to her husband to decide what he wanted to do. "I hope he will realise one day... Who knows he might be back in the Trinamool one day," she replied.

On Saturday, the Trinamool suffered the worst exodus in its history as 35 leaders, including MLAs and an MP, crossed over to the BJP at Home Minister Amit Shah’s rally.

The defections come with just four months to the Bengal assembly election. Mamata Banerjee, aiming for a third straight term, is facing a mega challenge from the BJP, which has seen significant gains in the state since last year’s national election.