Congress Candidate Milan Pradhan Arrested Ahead of Nandigram Bypoll

West Bengal police arrested Milan Pradhan, the Indian National Congress candidate for the Nandigram Assembly by-election, from a hotel in Chandipur on September 19. Pradhan faces non-bailable charges in a murder case and over 12 other cases linked to the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement. Pradesh Congress Secretary Subhashis Bhattacharya was also detained for allegedly obstructing the arrest; he later claimed he was pressured at a resort in Mandarmani to force Pradhan to withdraw his candidacy.

The arrest occurred shortly after Mamata Banerjee, founder of the Trinamool Congress, announced her support for Pradhan to strengthen the INDIA bloc. This endorsement followed the abrupt withdrawal of TMC candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey after a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Simultaneously, the Election Commission of India froze the original All India Trinamool Congress name and symbol due to a factional dispute, allotting interim identities to the groups led by Banerjee and Arup Roy.

Congress leaders, including President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, condemned the arrest as political revenge and the murder of democracy, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of misusing agencies to stifle the opposition. The BJP and police rejected these claims, stating the action followed a long-standing legal warrant. Despite the detention, the All India Congress Committee vowed that Pradhan would not withdraw his nomination for the October 6 by-election.