Kolkata:
A divorced couple will face off in the Lok Sabha election in Bengal — a situation that has become a talking point in the state as the ruling Trinamool Congress announced its candidates list today. Sujata Mondal will contest against her former husband Soumitra Khan, a BJP candidate from Bishnupur seat of Bandal’s Bankura district.
The BJP had fielded the leader from Bishnupur earlier this month. Today, Trinamool announced the name of Ms Mondal from the same seat.
The couple got estranged in the run-up to the 2021 assembly election in the state, which was swept by the Trinamool. Mr Khan had announced the divorce on camera when his wife joined politics as a member of the Triamool Congress.
Mr Khan, a senior leader from Bishnupur, had crossed over to the BJP from Trinamool ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. His wife had campaigned for him at the time.
Trinamool Congress announced candidates for Bengal’s 42 seats today, underscoring its intention to play a lone hand in the state.
It has hugely upset the Congress, which was hoping for a rapproachement despite Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s declaration that she would reconsider ties with the Opposition bloc India only after seeing the election results.
“The Indian National Congress has repeatedly declared its desire to have a respectable seat-sharing agreement with the TMC in West Bengal. The Indian National Congress has always maintained that such an agreement has to be finalised through negotiations and not by unilateral announcements,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on X (formerly Twitter).
Trinamool has dropped at least eight sitting MPs and brought in several new faces such as former cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Kirti Azad.
Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat against Trinamool’s arch-rival, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Mr Chowdhury, who won the seat five times, said no political party should trust Ms Banerjee
“Mamata Banerjee is in fear that if she continues to be in the INDIA alliance, PM Modi will be unhappy,” he added, underscoring his frequent opinion that the Trinamool Congress is the “B Team” of the BJP.