The Congress candidate for the October 6 bypoll in West Bengal’s Nandigram constituency, Milan Pradhan, was arrested in connection with an old murder case. The arrest occurred hours after Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress faction announced it would back him, with Banerjee noting the timing came within minutes of the endorsement and questioning why the old case was being revived now.
Congress leaders condemned the arrest as politically motivated and an attempt to subvert the electoral process. Rahul Gandhi stated the arrest was no coincidence and accused the BJP of clinging to power through vote theft and undermining opposition parties, while Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that the party would not be intimidated.
The bypoll follows an interim order by the Election Commission barring rival Trinamool factions from using the party’s original name and symbol, leading the Banerjee faction to withdraw its own candidate and back the Congress nominee. Counting for Nandigram and two other bypolls is scheduled for October 9.