The Nandigram Assembly bypoll witnessed another dramatic twist on Friday as Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested by the West Bengal Police in connection with a murder case dating back to the 2007 Nandigram land-acquisition protests.
The arrest came just hours after former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her faction would support Pradhan in the October 6 bypoll.
The sequence of events has added another layer of uncertainty to an already rapidly changing contest in Nandigram, a constituency that has played a pivotal role in Bengal’s political history.
Pradhan’s arrest relates to a case registered in connection with violence during the 2007 anti-land acquisition agitation in Nandigram, a movement spearheaded by Mamata Banerjee and her political supporters against the then Left Front government’s land acquisition plans.
The Congress candidate has reportedly been named in several cases arising from the agitation.
The arrest followed an equally significant development earlier in the day, when Sanchita Pradhan Dey, the candidate backed by the Mamata Banerjee faction, withdrew from the Nandigram contest.
Pradhan Dey met West Bengal Chief Minister and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari at Nabanna before withdrawing her candidature. With Banerjee’s faction consequently left without a candidate in Nandigram, Banerjee announced her support for Congress’s Milan Pradhan.
The decision came amid an unusual realignment between the Trinamool Congress faction led by Banerjee and the Congress, both of which are constituents of the INDIA bloc but have frequently been political rivals in West Bengal.
Banerjee has presented the Nandigram arrangement as part of a broader effort to bring opposition parties together against the BJP.
She also spoke with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi amid the unfolding developments and called for greater solidarity within the INDIA bloc.
However, the arrest of Pradhan soon after Banerjee’s announcement has injected a fresh controversy into the episode.
Congress leaders have questioned the timing of the police action and alleged that the old case was being used for political purposes. These allegations are political claims and have not been independently established.
Another senior Congress leader, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Subhasish Bhattacharya, was also arrested in connection with the developments. Congress alleged that Bhattacharya was taken into custody after he intervened when police went to arrest Pradhan.
The arrests come at a particularly sensitive moment for Banerjee’s faction.
The Election Commission has temporarily frozen the use of the All India Trinamool Congress name and the party’s traditional symbol amid an ongoing dispute between rival factions. For the October 6 bypolls, Banerjee’s faction has been allotted the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and the Football Player symbol. The rival faction headed by Arup Roy has been allotted the name Democratic Trinamool Congress and the Envelope symbol.
The Commission’s arrangement is interim and will remain in place until it reaches a final decision on the factional dispute.
For Nandigram, the latest developments carry particular significance.
The constituency became a major political battleground during the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement, which helped establish Banerjee as the principal political challenger to the Left Front government in Bengal. Years later, Nandigram returned to the national spotlight when Suvendu Adhikari defeated Banerjee from the seat in the 2021 Assembly election.
The upcoming bypoll has now acquired an unusual political configuration: Banerjee’s faction has withdrawn its own candidate, extended support to the Congress nominee and, within hours, that nominee has been arrested in an old case connected to the very movement that helped launch Banerjee’s political ascent.
Polling for Nandigram and Rejinagar is scheduled for October 6, while counting of votes will take place on October 9.
