Following the arrest of Congress candidate Milan Pradhan on Friday (September 18, 2026), Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling BJP of a “political vendetta”. Gandhi, who accused the BJP of ‘symbol chori’ a day ago, has levelled another unfounded allegation against the party because of a valid legal action against his party’s candidate.
Pradhan was selected by the Congress Party to contest the Nandigram Assembly bypoll scheduled for October 6, 2026. Interestingly, the former West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo, Mamata Banerjee, extended support to him on behalf of her faction of the party during a press conference at her Kalighat residence on Friday.
However, hours after Banerjee announced her support for Pradhan, he was arrested by the police in connection with four criminal cases pending against him. After Pradhan’s arrest, Gandhi took the opportunity to attack the state’s BJP government and allege foul play. Gandhi claimed the BJP got Pradhan arrested to win the Nandigram seat without a fight.
“The arrest of Congress candidate Milan Pradhan for the Nandigram by-election is no coincidence—it is political revenge, the murder of democracy. The BJP has no faith in fair elections—that’s why it wants to cling to power sometimes through vote theft, sometimes through stealing governments, and sometimes through stealing parties. They don’t want to contest elections; they want to end the electoral fight altogether. The Congress will neither fear nor bow down. We will fight—and we will win,” Gandhi posted on X on Friday.
नंदीग्राम उपचुनाव के लिए कांग्रेस उम्मीदवार मिलन प्रधान की गिरफ्तारी कोई संयोग नहीं, राजनीतिक प्रतिशोध है – लोकतंत्र की हत्या है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 18, 2026
BJP का निष्पक्ष चुनाव में भरोसा ही नहीं – इसलिए कभी वोट चोरी, कभी सरकार चोरी और कभी पार्टी चोरी से सत्ता बचाना चाहती है।
वो चुनाव नहीं लड़ना चाहते,…
“Political vendetta” or legal action?
What Gandhi described as a “political vendetta” was actually a valid and legal action against the Congress candidate, who has multiple criminal cases pending against him. Pradhan’s arrest was carried out in execution of a pending arrest warrant issued in connection with a 2007 murder case in Nandigram.
OpIndia accessed four pending arrest warrants issued against Pradhan in different criminal cases. Three of these arrest warrants were issued in 2021 while one was issued in 2023.
All four pending arrest warrants relate to criminal cases registered against Pradhan in 2007, three of which include murder charges. Case No. 44/07 was registered in July 2007 at Kesuri Police Station in the Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, involving charges under Sections 148 and 149 of the IPC and Sections 25/35 of the Arms Act. An arrest warrant was issued against Milan Pradhan in connection with the case on May 15, 2021.
The remaining three cases, involving murder charges, were filed at Nandigram Police Station. The details of the three cases are as follows:
Case No. 75/07 was lodged against Milan Pradhan under Sections 147, 148, 149, 448, 302 and 506 of the IPC, and Section 27 of the Arms Act. An arrest warrant was issued against him in connection with the case on October 16, 2023.
Case No. 221/07 was filed against him under Sections 147, 148, 149, 326, 364, 302, and 201 of the IPC. On March 15, 2021, an arrest warrant was issued against Milan Pradhan in connection with the case.
The last one, Case No. 188/07, was lodged under Sections 147, 148, 149, 324, 307, and 302 of the IPC, and Sections 25/27 of the Arms Act. An arrest warrant was issued against him in connection with the case on March 15, 2021.
Rahul Gandhi’s distortion tactics
Clearly, all the criminal cases were filed, and the arrest warrants were issued against Milan Pradhan well before the BJP came to power in the state. All of these arrest warrants had been pending for years without execution. The law enforcement authorities executed the pending arrest warrants after TMC’s rival faction, the Democratic Trinamool Congress (DTC) led by Ritabrata Banerjee, lodged a complaint against Pradhan seeking the execution of the warrants.
The rebuttal of Gandhi’s bogus allegations against the BJP came from Ritabrata Banerjee himself, who announced that the DTC filed a complaint against the Congress candidate. “We, the Democratic Trinamool Congress, have lodged a complaint against Milan Pradhan, who has three murder cases pending against him. During elections, it’s mandatory to execute the warrant. The State Cong Leadership probably has not intimated the actual details to Sri @RahulGandhi,” Banerjee wrote in response to Gandhi’s allegation.
We, the Democratic Trinamool Congress have lodged a complaint against Milan Pradhan, who has three murder cases pending against him. During elections it’s mandatory to execute the warrant.The State Cong Leadership probably has not intimated the actual details to Sri @RahulGandhi https://t.co/pFKCv5XM5C
— Ritabrata Banerjee (@RitabrataBanerj) September 18, 2026
The facts completely expose the lie peddled by Rahul Gandhi in an attempt to malign the BJP government in West Bengal. This is not the first time Rahul Gandhi has distorted facts to attack the BJP. This is the tactic he usually adopts, especially when elections are approaching, to influence voters’ opinion against the BJP.
