Bharatiya Janata Party MP Saumitra Khan on Tuesday, 22 December sent a legal divorce notice to his wife Sujata Mondal Khan after she joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Kolkata on Monday, 21 December. This comes amid multiple defections from TMC to BJP, ahead of 2021 West Bengal polls.
Sujata said that her husband is in the company of bad people from BJP who are trying to instigate him against her.
“When politics enter your personal lives, it becomes bad for the relationship,” Sujata was quoted as saying as reported by ANI
She further told ANI that the party that abolished triple talaq is asking Saumitra to divorce her.
Soon after Sujata Mondal announced her decision to join TMC, BJP MP Saumitra Khan had said that his wife made a “big mistake” and said he will soon send her a divorce notice, reported Indian Express.
During a press conference, the BJP MP broke down and appealed to his wife to remove ‘Khan’ from her surname.
“I give you full freedom. This is my appeal to you to remove my surname ‘Khan’ from your name,” said Khan.
He further added: “They (TMC) 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 percent 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,” Indian Express quoted Saumitra Khan as saying.
Khan went on to say that without BJP, he was no one, and if Sujata Mondal was not his wife nobody would have known her.
“Every family has its fights. But, you have chosen politics over family to feed you high ambitions. You have been trapped and it is your big mistake,” said Khan.
Saumitra Khan is the president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and Member of Parliament from Bishnupur in West Bengal. Sujata Khan in 2019 ran her husband’s campaign single-handedly in Bishnupur. Saumitra Khan was barred by a court from entering his constituency as a condition for bail in a criminal case.
Didn’t Get Enough Recognition: Sujata Mondal
Sujata Mondal stated that she did not get enough recognition even after taking many risks during her husband’s campaign at Bishnupur constituency in 2019. Khan also alleged that “newly inducted, corrupt leaders are getting more importance in the saffron party than the loyal ones,” reported Times of India.
"Despite enduring physical attacks, sacrificing so much to get my husband elected to Parliament, I got nothing in return. 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,” NDTV quoted Mondal as saying.
Speaking about whether her husband will also join TMC, Khan said that it is on him to decide whether he wants to switch party or not.
“I hope he will realise one day... Who knows he might be back in the Trinamool one day,” NDTV quoted Mondal as saying.
(With inputs from ANI, NDTV, Indian Express, TOI)
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