Saumitra Khan (born: 8 December 1980) is an Indian politician representing the Bishnupur constituency of West Bengal in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

since

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. He joined

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

in 2019 and currently (as of December 2020) serves as the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) (translation: Indian People's Youth Front) is the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of the two major political parties in India, and formerly the youth wing of the dissolved Janata Party ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. Khan started his career with

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

party and was elected to

West Bengal Legislative Assembly The West Bengal Legislative Assembly (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paścimabaṅga Vidhānasabhā'') is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of West Bengal, located in eastern India. It consists of 294 members directly elected from single-seat ...

from Katulpur constituency. In 2013, he switched to the ruling

Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the Federated state, state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a Lis ...

. In the

2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

, he was elected to the

from Bishnupur constituency. In early 2019, he defected to

, the ruling party at the centre. Following his defection, a police case was lodged against him for allegedly extorting money from job aspirants. The

Kolkata High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located at Esplanade Row West, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The ...

prevented him from entering his constituency. He won with a margin of more than 78,000 votes without even holding any political rally in the area.

Personal life

Khan was born in a

Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus () are adherents of Hinduism who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. They make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Assam's Barak Valley ...

family of Shunri jati on 8 December 1980 to Dhanonjoy Khan and Chhaya Rani Khan at

Durlabhpur Durlabhpur (also spelled Durlovpur) is a village in the Gangajalghati CD block in the Bankura Sadar subdivision of the Bankura district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Durlabhpur is located at Area overview The map a ...

Bankura district Bankura district (Pron: bãkuɽa) is an District#India, administrative unit in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is part of Medinipur division—one of the five Divisions of West Bengal, administrative divisi ...

. He studied at Panchmura Mahavidyalaya. His wife, Sujata Mondal Khan, joined Trinamool Congress, after Saumitra Khan filed for divorce. On 7 February 2023, with the order of the Hon'ble court of Bankura, he got divorced. This has led to an ongoing controversy in West Bengal politics. Another controversy occurred when he demanded a separate state of Junglemahal state.

Political career

2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Assembly election was held in Indian state of West Bengal in 2011 to elect the members of West Bengal Legislative Assembly as the term of the incumbent government was about to expire naturally. The election was held in six phases between 18 Ap ...

, Khan was elected to the assembly from Katulpur constituency as a candidate of the

party. On 12 December 2013, he announced his intention to join the ruling

party. He alleged that the state Congress unit was ignoring the

. Four days later, he officially joined Trinamool Congress party. In

, Khan was elected to the

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 May ...

from Bishnupur constituency. After getting elected, he said that his priority as an MP would be to develop Bishnupur as a tourist spot and to protect the rights of workers who make Baluchari Sari. On 9 January 2019, he defected to

. Subsequently, he was expelled by his former party. ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' reported that

Mukul Roy Mukul Roy (born 17 April 1954) is an Indian politician from West Bengal. He has also served as a Minister of State in the Shipping Ministry and later Ministry of Railways during the second UPA government. Before the creation of Trinamool Cong ...

, who himself defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party played an important role in recruiting Khan. The "dynastic rule" in the Trinamool Congress and the political violence in the state were the reasons cited by Khan to switch parties. In February 2019 it was alleged that Khan had extorted money from job aspirants on false promises. The

announced that he could not be arrested though it prevented him from entering Bankura. In the following month, Khan was interrogated by the Bankura police. On 12 April, the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

refused to overturn the ban on him although he was allowed to enter the district for filing his nomination papers. In the absence of Khan, his wife Sujata Khan started campaigning for him for the upcoming

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. Khan managed to win from the same constituency with a margin of 78,047 votes even without holding any roadshow or addressing any political rally.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Saumitra India MPs 2014–2019 Living people Lok Sabha members from West Bengal 1980 births People from Bankura district India MPs 2019–2024 Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from West Bengal West Bengal MLAs 2011–2016 India MPs 2024–2029