Khejuri: Trinamul has fielded a doctor as a zilla parishad candidate in East Midnapore's Khejuri, while his wife is a BJP nominee in another seat of the upper tier of the panchayat system in the district.

Doctor Partha Pratim Das, who is the outgoing health functionary of the zilla parishad, said he and his wife were living separately to avoid embarrassment.

Lipika Das said she was contesting the polls out of anger as her husband had shunned her repeated pleas to quit politics and concentrate on medical profession.

The doctor said that his in-laws had earlier been with the CPM but later joined the BJP.

Partha Pratim, 48, said: "I have been with Trinamul since its inception. I gave more time to the party than to medical profession. I was made a candidate in zilla parishad and I will contest. My wife became a BJP candidate without informing me."

Pratim said his in-laws were CPM supporters earlier but later sided with the BJP. "My in-laws have brainwashed my wife and that is why she became a BJP candidate," he added.

The doctor said to avoid embarrassment, they were living separately. "My wife has gone to live with her parents. I am staying alone at my home. My wife and I are maintaining a distance."

However, Lipika said Trinamul was a "betrayer".

"In 2011, my husband was arrested in a false case relating to the Nandigram movement and Trinamul did not help him. I went to Trinamul Bhavan and fell on the feet of many leaders but no one took any initiative to help my husband. Moreover, in 2016, the party had assured my husband that it would make him a candidate for Assembly polls. But then also, my husband was betrayed," she added.

Lipika said she had repeatedly asked her husband not to contest election any more and leave politics to seriously pursue his medical career. "My husband did not listen to me. I became so angry that I decided to become a BJP candidate when the party approached me."