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Saumitra Khan

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Saumitra Khan
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 May 2014
Preceded bySusmita Bauri
ConstituencyBishnupur
Member of Legislative Assembly
In office
2011–2014
Preceded byKalpana Koley
Succeeded byShyamal Santra
ConstituencyKatulpur
West Bengal State President, All India Trinamool Youth Congress
Preceded bySuvendu Adhikari
Succeeded byAbhishek Banerjee
Personal details
Born (1980-12-08) 8 December 1980 (age 44)[1]
Durlabhpur, Bankura district, West Bengal, India[1]
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party (2019-present)
Other political
affiliations		Trinamool Congress (2014-2019)
Indian National Congress (till 2014)
Alma materPanchmura Mahavidyalaya[1]
Signature
Parliamentary Committee Memberships[1]
  • 2019 onwards: Member, Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
  • 2019 onwards: Member, Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture
  • 2019 onwards: Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
  • 2016 - 2019: Member, Standing Committee on Commerce
  • 2014 - 2016: Member, Standing Committee on Energy
  • 2014: Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

Saumitra Khan (born: 8 December 1980) is an Indian Bharatiya Janata Party politician. Since 2014, he has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bishnupur Lok Sabha constituency. He served as president of the state's BJP Yuva Morcha.[2]. Khan has represented Bishnupur in the 16th, 17th, and now 18th Lok Sabhas in a row, taking part in debates on rural development, infrastructure, and employment.[3]

In 2019, Khan switched from the TMC to the BJP and won the Bishnupur constituency in the 17th Lok Sabha elections. His election, however, was preceded by a legal dispute involving allegations of extortion based on job promises, which Khan denies. The Calcutta High Court barred him from entering his constituency during the 2019 election campaign period, but he won the seat despite the restrictions.[4][5]

Khan defeated her divorced wife in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, winning by 5567 votes from the Bishnupur Lok Sabha constituency.[6]

In the 17th Loksabha, his attendance in Parliament was 78%, the highest of any West Bengal MP at the time.[3][6]

Personal life

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Khan was born in a Bengali Hindu family of Shunri jati on 8 December 1980 to Dhanonjoy Khan and Chhaya Rani Khan at Durlabhpur in Bankura district, West Bengal.[7] He studied at Panchmura Mahavidyalaya.[8] 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. One year later, Khan defeated her former partner in the Lok Sabha election[3]. Khan sparked another controversy by demanding a separate state of Junglemahal.[9]

Political career

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In 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Khan was elected to the assembly from Katulpur constituency as a candidate of the Indian National Congress party.[10] On 12 December 2013, he announced his intention to join the ruling Trinamool Congress party. He alleged that the state Congress unit was ignoring the Bankura district.[11] Four days later, he officially joined Trinamool Congress party.[10]

In 2014 Indian general election, Khan was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha 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.[12] On 9 January 2019, he defected to Bharatiya Janata Party. Subsequently, he was expelled by his former party.[13] The Times of India reported that Mukul Roy, who himself defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party played an important role in recruiting Khan.[14] The "dynastic rule" in the Trinamool Congress and the political violence in the state were the reasons cited by Khan to switch parties.[15]

In February 2019 it was alleged that Khan had extorted money from job aspirants on false promises.[16] The Kolkata High Court announced that he could not be arrested though it prevented him from entering Bankura.[16] In the following month, Khan was interrogated by the Bankura police.[17] On 12 April, the Supreme Court of India refused to overturn the ban on him although he was allowed to enter the district for filing his nomination papers.[18] In the absence of Khan, his wife Sujata Khan started campaigning for him for the upcoming general election.[19] 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.[20][21][22]

Parliamentary performance

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Soumitra Khan has represented the Bishnupur (SC) constituency in the Lok Sabha for three consecutive terms. First in 16th, 2024, when he won as a TMC candidate by more than 100,000 votes. Second in 2019, this time as a BJP candidate, he won by more than 80000 votes over TMC's Shymal Santra. According to data from PRS Legislative Research, his attendance in the 17th Lok Sabha was approximately 78%, slightly above the average for MPs from West Bengal. In the 2024 election, he defeated his former partner Sujata Mondal by a narrow margin of 5567 votes. He has participated in over 25 debates and asked more than 100 questions, covering subjects such as rural infrastructure, employment, and social development.[23]

Controversies

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In January 2019, Khan was accused of collecting money from job aspirants with the promise of employment. The Calcutta High Court temporarily barred him from entering his parliamentary constituency during the campaign for the 2019 general elections.[24] Despite the ban, he won the election from Bishnupur as a BJP candidate.

In 2023, the Calcutta High Court issued a stay on a new investigation involving similar allegations. The court cited concerns regarding the evidence presented and the political timing of the complaint.[25]

In May 2025, following incidents such as murshidabad violence and the pahalgam attack, Khan made a controversial statement in a rally, stating that non-Hindus and Muslims should not be sold or rented property.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Members Bioprofile". loksabhaph.nic.in. Lok Sabha Secretariat. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Trinamool Congress MP Saumitra Khan joins BJP, party expels him, another MP". 4 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Saumitra Khan - 17th Lok Sabha MP Profile". PRS Legislative Research. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  4. ^ "BJP's Soumitra Khan Barred From Entering Constituency, Still Wins". NDTV. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  5. ^ "High Court stays probe into Soumitra Khan job scam case". The Telegraph. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Bishnupur lok sabha election results 2024: Bishnupur Winning Candidates List and Vote Share". India Today. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Is Every Khan A Muslim? BJP MP Saumitra Khan Has Won from Scheduled Caste Reserved Constituency". IndiaTomorrow.net. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Saumitra Khan". India. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  9. ^ "After wife joins TMC, BJP MP Saumitra Khan says will send divorce notice". 25 December 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Another Congress lawmaker crosses over to Trinamool". Avenue Mail. 16 December 2013. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  11. ^ "'Curious' MLA does U-turn, eyes Trinamul". The Telegraph. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  12. ^ Seetharaman, G.; Balasubramanyam, K. R. (25 May 2014). "32 newly elected under-35 MPs & what they intend to do for their constituencies". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  13. ^ "TMC MP Saumitra Khan joins BJP, party expels him". India Today. 9 January 2019. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  14. ^ "TMC says party MP Saumitra Khan who joined BJP already 'expelled'". The Times of India. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  15. ^ Das, Madhuparna (9 January 2019). "TMC MP Soumitra Khan joins BJP, calls TMC a 'party of aunty and her nephew'". The Economic Times. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Soumitra Khan Cannot Be Arrested: High Court". Kolkata 24x7. 18 February 2019. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  17. ^ "Bishnupur MP grilled for extorting money". The Asian Age. 5 March 2019. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  18. ^ "SC refuses to vacate Calcutta HC order over Saumitra Khan's 'no-entry' into Bankura". ANI News. 12 April 2019. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  19. ^ "Wife rallies forces after bar". The Telegraph. 1 April 2019. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  20. ^ "After saffron surge in WB, Saumitra Khan exurbes confidence of sweeping assembly polls". ANI News. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  21. ^ "Bengal's Saumitra Khan Couldn't Rally for Himself; Armed With Modi's Pep Talk, His Wife Does the Job". News18. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  22. ^ "Bengal BJP leader Saumitra Khan wins Bishnupur Lok Sabha seat despite campaign ban". The New Indian Express. 25 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  23. ^ "Saumitra Khan - 17th Lok Sabha". PRS Legislative Research. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  24. ^ "BJP's Soumitra Khan Barred From Entering Constituency, Still Wins". NDTV. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  25. ^ "High Court stays probe into Soumitra Khan job scam case". The Telegraph. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  26. ^ "Sell land, rent out homes only to 'Sanatanis': BJP MP". The Times of India. 5 May 2025. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
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