BJP MP Saumitra Khan on Monday announced that he will send a divorce notice to her wife Sujata Mondal Khan moments after she joined TMC in Kolkata.
Addressing the press, the Bishnupur lawmaker said that his wife “made a mistake” and blamed TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee for “breaking my family”.
“You were respected as a BJP MP’s wife. TMC can break families…You [Sujata Mondal Khan] have got me votes and are a part of my victory. but I now release her from my name and surname. Those who broke our house…we will not forgive them,” Khan said as quoted by India Today.
“I request my wife Sujata to stay well and fight out. You have made a mistake, Sujata. I want to tell Abhishek Banerjee, Sujata was my only weakness and now I will sacrifice everything for my party [BJP].
“I will be sending a divorce notice. I will fight TMC. I want to tell TMC that you should be ashamed for breaking my family. There have been so many fights but [I] did not think this will happen,” he added.
Sujata joined Mamata Banerjee-led party at the presence of Kunal Ghosh and veteran Saugata Roy. She also wished for her TMC-turncoat husband to follow suit soon.
“I hope good sense prevails in him. Let’s hope for the best,” said Sujata about Saumitra, who had served as TMC’s youth wing secretary before changing his loyalty.
Sujata took a dig at BJP and said only opportunists had a place there now. “Now there are only opportunist and tainted people on the top. There was no respect in the BJP for me,” she said.
“I don’t understand what kind of soap is it that is used to purifying the tainted leaders. I had fought for BJP and my husband [Saumitra Khan]…we got them [BJP and Saumitra Khan] a victory in the Lok Sabha polls. I think they have only been opportunists.”
However, Bengali portal The Wall repored that there had been a rift in the relationship between Saumitra and Sujata after the latter demanded to be made the president of BJP’s Mahila Morcha.
As Home Minister Amit Shah boasted about the intolerance of the saffron party to nepotism, TMC took the advantage with a hope to untether a fierce campaign against Saumitra, the former president of TMC’s youth wing.
Sujata had proved to be instrumental in BJP’s success in the 2019 Parliamentary polls in Bankura after Saumitra was stopped by the court from entering the district.
Sujata had shouldered the responsibility of BJP’s campaign in Bankura. It was riding on her effortless campaigning that hindutva brigade gained massive inroads on the land of red soil.
How much will Sujata’s induction help West Bengal’s governning party in the ballots remains to be seen. But it’ll certainly act as a moral booster to the TMC cadres who have been demotivated recently with massive defections led by Suvendu Adhikari.