Sujata Khan was also a member of BJP and even shared the stage with PM Modi in the past.
Calcutta:
Political acrimony in Bengal appeared to threaten a marriage today, as a BJP MP said he would file for divorce after his wife joined Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, moving against the current in a wave of defections to the BJP before state elections. Shortly after Sujata Mondal Khan joined Trinamool, her husband Saumitra Khan wept and said that “politics had ended their marriage.”
Saumitra Khan, a former Trinamool leader, won the 2014 parliamentary elections in the Bishnupur constituency and is the head of the BJP youth wing, Yuva Morcha. His wife Sujata was credited with her victory in last year’s national elections when a court barred her from entering their constituency as a condition for bail in a criminal case. She ran her campaign without help and he won.
Sujata Khan was also a member of the BJP and even shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi while campaigning. She claimed that she did not get recognition in the BJP, although she took many risks to secure her husband’s victory.
“I want to breathe. I want respect. I want to be a capable leader of a capable party. I want to work with my beloved. I did“the former teacher told reporters today. She complained that” newly hired, misfit and corrupt leaders “were gaining prominence in the BJP, an allusion to the Trinamool rebels who have recently joined the BJP.
“Despite enduring physical attacks, sacrificing so much for my husband to be elected to Parliament, I got nothing in return,” she alleged.
Saumitra Khan, who was holding a separate press conference, collapsed. “A 10-year relationship ended due to politics. Now I will work harder for the BJP,” he said, emphasizing that he was not willing to follow his wife to Trinamool as speculated.
Sujata Khan told NDTV that her family and politics were separate and it was up to her husband to decide what he wanted to do. “I hope he finds out one day … Who knows he might be back at the Trinamool one day,” he replied when asked how he felt about his move.
On Saturday, Trinamool suffered the worst exodus in its history when 35 leaders, including the MLA and one MP, crossed over to the BJP at Interior Minister Amit Shah’s rally.
The defections come with only four months to go before the Bengal assembly elections. Mamata Banerjee, who is running for a third consecutive term, faces a mega challenge from the BJP, which has seen significant progress in the state since last year’s national elections.
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