Nandigram/Kolkata: The Nandigram nominee of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew her candidature on Friday and cops arrested Congress candidate Milan Pradhan an hour later over allegations dating back to 2007, prompting all non-BJP parties to accuse state agencies of blatantly skewing the Oct 6 bypoll in BJP’s favour.Pradhan Dey’s withdrawal from the fray came a day after she and her husband met CM Suvendu Adhikari at his makeshift office in the PWD tent on the Maidan.The decision left Mamata All India Trinamool Congress, the new name allotted by Election Commission to the Trinamool faction led by the former CM, without a candidate in the bypoll in the CM’s backyard and prompted it to back the Congress nominee. But soon after, cops arrested Pradhan on charges dating back to a time when Left Front was in office in Bengal.The two developments capped a day of fast-paced action that saw EC give both factions of Trinamool Congress new names and symbols (see next story).Mamata All India Trinamool Congress launched an attack on BJP and EC following Pradhan Dey’s withdrawal decision. “We will not surrender to BJP at any cost. We may support our allies and natural coalition partners, but we can never support political opportunism, betrayal or attempts to destroy democratic institutions,” Mamata said.“A mother knows the pain of losing a child. A child knows the grief of losing a mother. Those who have not built this organisation through struggle will never understand this emotional bond,” said the former CM.Pradhan Dey, 46, who withdrew her candidature a day ahead of the Saturday deadline, could not be contacted throughout Friday.Sources said the schoolteacher, who had publicly pledged to stand by her party amid the current turmoil, had gone to meet the CM to seek his blessings.The Trinamool decision to back the Congress candidate was announced around 4 pm. “In Assam, we are supporting Congress. In Nandigram, too, we are supporting Congress. We have taken this decision in the larger interest of the nation and to further strengthen INDIA alliance,” Mamata said at a news conference.“Rahul Gandhi called on Thursday. Arvind (Kejriwal), too. We can support our sister party and the natural ally, but not this nasty, highly loaded virus,” she added. “We had decided on our own to support Congress in Nandigram. They (Congress) were not aware of our decision.”An hour later, around 5 pm, Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was rounded up from Nandigram. Ritabrata Banerjee said his party had lodged a case against Pradhan based on pending warrants against him.Sonachura resident Pradhan was a key figure in the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement. In his election affidavit, he listed 12 criminal cases from 2007, including four murder cases filed by then Left Front govt. All 12 cases are pending before the Haldia chief judicial magistrate’s court. Charges have not been framed in any.Sources said Pradhan was arrested based on warrants issued in the four murder cases. Three of the warrants were issued in 2021 and one in 2023.Congress seniors slammed the arrest. Rahul Gandhi said, “The arrest of Congress candidate Milan Pradhan… is no coincidence — it is political vendetta and the murder of democracy… BJP has no faith in fair elections…” State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar said an EC official told him he was unaware of Pradhan’s arrest.Mamata wrote on X, “The timing raises serious questions and reflects the usual BJP formula: dig up an old case right after we announce support to Congress.”(With inputs from Sukmar Mahato in Behrampore and Rohit Khanna in Kolkata)
