Five years and a divorce later, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has given Mondal the Bishnupur ticket to defeat Khan, who has been fielded by the BJP again.
On Sunday, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee announced Mondal’s name as the party’s candidate from Bishnupur in Bankura district. Along with other TMC candidates, Mondal walked on the ramp at the party’s ‘Jana Garjan Sabha’ held on Brigade Parade Grounds.
Speaking to media persons, Mondal, who joined the TMC ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls, with her divorce from Khan coming soon after, said the coming electoral battle will be an “agnipariksha (trial by fire)” for her. “It would have been better if I had been fielded against a different candidate. It’s going to be my agnipariksha. Nevertheless, I’m confident it will be a cakewalk. I’ll win by a margin of 4 lakh votes,” said Mondal, who won the state panchayat polls last year, and is currently a karmadhyaksha (member) of the Bankura Zilla Parishad (Fisheries).
Khan started his political career with the Congress and was elected to the West Bengal Assembly from Katulpur in the 2011 state polls. In 2013, he switched to the TMC, and was elected from Bishnupur Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 by a margin of about 1.20 lakh votes. In 2016, Mondal got married to Khan.
In January 2019, Khan defected to the BJP, following which, a police case was lodged against him for allegedly extorting money from job aspirants. Months later, the BJP made Khan its candidate from the same constituency.
The Calcutta High Court, after hearing a petition over the police case, prevented Khan from entering his constituency. The Supreme Court refused to overturn the ban, although it allowed him to enter Bankura district to file his nomination papers.
That’s when Sujata Mondal-Khan came into the limelight, by leading the campaign for her husband and canvassing across the constituency holding his portrait. She held public meetings, rallies and door-to-door campaigns, and was seen to have single-handedly helped Khan win in 2019 by a margin of 78,047 votes.
Their personal equations started to deteriorate when Mondal joined the TMC ahead of the 2021 state Assembly polls. Claiming shock, Khan announced their separation at a news conference, and sought divorce from Mondal.
Soon, a legal battle ensued between the two.
In 2021, the TMC made Mondal its candidate from the Arambagh Assembly seat in Hooghly district, but she lost. By 2022, Khan and Mondal were legally separated. Later that year, Khan married Paromita Roy Chowdhury, the widow of a former BJP Siliguri district presiden.
That same year, Mondal removed ‘Khan’ from her surname and contested and won the state panchayat election as Sujata Mondal on a TMC ticket to become a Bankura Zilla Parishad member.
With the TMC nominating Mondal against her former husband, all eyes will now be on the contest in Bishnupur.
Khan refused to give much importance to Mondal’s nomination as a TMC candidate. “She is not a political personality. Therefore it is not going to be an issue for me. The TMC has lost ground in Bishnupur. That’s why they are trying to come up with a surprise by making her the candidate. People here have known me since 2011, and they will once again vote for me,” said Khan.