Congress's Nandigram candidate arrested hours after Mamata pledges support

The arrest came shortly after Banerjee said her camp would not field another candidate from Nandigram following the withdrawal of Sanchita Pradhan De, the nominee of the Mamata-led Trinamool faction.

In Short

• Congress candidate Milan Pradhan arrested over three murder cases
• Mamata Banerjee's faction backs Pradhan after rival candidate's withdrawal
• Election Commission freezes Trinamool Congress name and symbol

Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested by West Bengal Police on Friday in connection with three murder cases dating back to 2007, hours after former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her faction would support him in the Nandigram bypoll.

The arrest drew sharp reactions from Banerjee and the Congress, who questioned its timing and accused the BJP-led state government of targeting the Opposition.

“The timing raises serious questions. This is the BJP’s usual formula: dig out an old case. But why now, just after we announced support for the Congress?” Banerjee wrote on X.

She accused the BJP of using manipulation, electoral malpractice and intimidation against its political rivals. “The Election Agency-BJP partnership is killing democracy every day,” she said.

Banerjee backed Pradhan after Sanchita Pradhan De, the candidate of the Mamata-led Trinamool faction, withdrew from the contest.

She said her faction would not field a replacement candidate and would support the Congress as a show of solidarity with the INDIA alliance.

“We are ready to fight it out. I want the BJP to go from India. Our full solidarity is with the INDIA alliance,” Banerjee said at a press conference.

CONGRESS SLAMS BJP OVER ARREST

Confirming Pradhan’s arrest, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused the state government of violating democratic norms.

“Our candidate has been taken by police. Democratic norms are being trampled upon. This is nasty behaviour by the BJP,” Chowdhury said.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal also questioned why action had been taken in a 19-year-old case shortly after Banerjee announced her support for Pradhan.

“Democracy is on ventilator in BJP’s West Bengal. This is BJP’s latest effort to ensure ‘Opposition-Mukt Bharat’, successfully converting our great constitutional democracy into a banana republic,” Venugopal said.

He asserted that the arrest would not intimidate the Congress and that the party would continue its campaign against the BJP.

BJP SLAMS CONGRESS, HITS OUT AT RAHUL GANDHI

Meanwhile, the BJP accused Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Congress of attempting to politicise Pradhan’s arrest despite knowing about the cases against him.

“Stop this drama, Mr Rahul Gandhi. No one forced the Congress to field a candidate facing multiple serious criminal cases,” the BJP said.

The party claimed that all four cases were registered when the Left Front was in power in West Bengal and supported the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.

“Rahul Gandhi lectures others while the Congress backs a candidate accused in murder cases. This is not Congress ki ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’, but ‘Murder Ki Dukaan’,” it added.

MAMATA FACTION CANDIDATE WITHDRAWS

Sanchita Pradhan De withdrew her candidature on Friday, less than a month before the Nandigram bypoll.

Her withdrawal followed a meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at the state secretariat in Nabanna. Sources initially described it as a courtesy meeting, but it drew attention given Adhikari’s political rivalry with Banerjee and his association with Nandigram.

Banerjee subsequently said her faction would not replace De and would instead support the Congress candidate.

The arrest of Pradhan hours later added another turn to the contest, which has been marked by the split in the Trinamool Congress and a dispute over the party’s name and symbol.

TMC FACTIONS GET NEW NAMES, SYMBOLS

The Election Commission has frozen the Trinamool Congress name and its traditional “flowers and grass” symbol amid competing claims from its rival factions.

For the upcoming bypolls, Banerjee’s faction will contest as the “Mamata All India Trinamool Congress” with a football player as its symbol.

The rival faction has been allotted the name “Democratic Trinamool Congress” and an envelope as its symbol.

The arrangement is temporary and will apply to the upcoming bypolls while the Election Commission considers the rival claims over the party’s name and symbol.

The poll body froze the “All India Trinamool Congress” name and the “flowers and grass” symbol on Thursday, preventing either faction from using the identity associated with the party since its formation in 1998.

MAMATA ATTACKS ELECTION COMMISSION

Banerjee called the Election Commission’s decision a “black day” in India’s democratic history and alleged that it was driven by “political bias and vendetta”.

She claimed that the decision was intended to satisfy the “ego” of a political party.

Banerjee also alleged that her faction’s accounts had been frozen and its workers were being targeted. She accused the police of acting as an “arm” of the ruling BJP and pressuring her supporters to switch sides.

She claimed that around 14,000 party workers were in jail and that she was under house arrest and unable to meet them.

Indicating that her faction would challenge the Election Commission’s arrangement, Banerjee said, “We will never bow down our head and we will bounce back.”

“I cannot leave All India Trinamool Congress until I leave this world,” she added.

HOW THE TMC SPLIT UNFOLDED

The dispute began within the Trinamool legislature party before spreading to its parliamentary ranks and reaching the Election Commission.

In June, 58 rebel MLAs backed expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition instead of the Mamata camp’s nominee, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay. Ritabrata was subsequently recognised by the Assembly Speaker.

Five days later, 20 Lok Sabha MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar joined the NCPI and wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, backing the BJP-led NDA as a separate bloc.

Another group of legislators supported a parallel leadership structure, with senior MLA Arup Roy named its chairperson.

Both factions later approached the Election Commission, staking claim to the Trinamool Congress name and its election symbol.

- Ends