In an unforeseen twist ahead of the 2021 Bengal polls, Sujata Mondal Khan, wife of BJP's Saumitra Khan, joined the Trinamool Congress on Monday. Khan, previously a member of TMC himself and now the chief of BJP's youth wing Yuva Morcha, has reportedly threatened divorce following his wife's joining. Calling her decision a "big mistake," he allegedly broke down at a press meet, asking his wife to remove "Khan" from her surname. Sujata Mondal Khan, now with TMC, was previously associated with the BJP, as she was seen campaigning in the 2019 election.
News agency reported Khan's joining to TMC. Soon after, according to Indian Express, her husband, who is also a BJP MP from the Bishnupur constituency, was quoted saying, "I give you full freedom. This is my appeal to you to remove my surname ‘Khan’ from your name... They cut your power supply, there were threats of attack on you… Your job was snatched by Mamata Banerjee or Abhishek Banerjee. At that point of your life, I kept the promise I made to you –– transferred 50% of my salary to your account every month… so that you don’t have to ask for it… Now you have joined hands with those who had harmed you in past."
About Sujata Mondal Khan
NDTV reports that Khan attributes joining TMC to the recognition of her efforts. A former teacher, she was quoted saying, "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." She further alleged that "newly inducted, misfit and corrupt leaders" were being given more space in the BJP.
In 2019, Khan had single-handedly run the election campaign for her husband after he was barred by the court from entering his constituency. "Despite enduring physical attacks, sacrificing so much to get my husband elected to Parliament, I got nothing in return," she now claims after joining TMC.
Politics in the run-up to 2021 Bengal election
According to Khan at the press meet, the couple were together for ten years, a relationship he said "has ended because of politics." His wife, meanwhile, is maintaining her ground, even saying that her husband might return to TMC himself one day.
With only four months to the assembly election showdown in Bengal, Times Now reports that TMC has suffered an exodus, with several members of the party moving over to the BJP. Close to 35 party members made the shift in Amit Shah's presence earlier this month.
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