Nandigram arrest row: Congress cries vendetta, rival Trinamool says warrants "must be executed"

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday (Sep 18) condemned the arrest of the party’s Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan as “political revenge” and the “murder of democracy,” while West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee said his Democratic Trinamool Congress had lodged a complaint against Pradhan, who faces three pending murder cases, stressing that warrants must be executed during elections.

Pradhan was taken into custody hours after former chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced support for the Congress nominee following the withdrawal of her faction’s candidate.

Gandhi accused the BJP of lacking faith in fair polls and seeking to cling to power through “vote theft,” “stealing governments” and “stealing parties,” vowing that Congress “will neither fear nor bow down” and “will fight—and we will win.” Banerjee countered that state Congress leaders had likely not shared the full details of the cases with Gandhi.

Banerjee said the timing of the arrest "raises serious questions" and called it "the usual BJP formula: dig out an old case." She added: "Minutes after we extended our support to the Congress candidate for the bypoll in Nandigram, the Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested."

Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal said "democracy is on ventilator in BJP's West Bengal" and accused the BJP of "using a dormant 19-year-old case from 2007 to arrest our candidate." He said the move showed the party "will go to any lengths to hijack democracy."

Former Lok Sabha Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called the arrest "astonishing" and questioned why Pradhan was not detained when he filed his nomination and took the oath before the returning officer. "BJP got scared and out of desperation, it arrested him," he said, alleging BJP influence over the Election Commission. State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar questioned Pradhan's whereabouts, saying an EC official claimed to be unaware of the arrest. He said the party would hold a "Nandigram Chalo" protest.

Pradesh Congress secretary Subhashis Bhattacharya, who was also taken into custody, alleged that police forcibly removed Pradhan from a house in Chandipur, accompanied by a BJP person. Bhattacharya said he was asleep when he heard Pradhan shouting for help. He argued with the police for about 15 minutes, saying Pradhan was a party candidate and worker, before he too was detained, he claimed.

Speaking to ANI, he alleged that the two were then driven in separate vehicles towards Mandarmani, that he was made to keep his eyes closed, and that at a resort he was told to persuade Pradhan to withdraw his nomination. Bhattacharya said he refused, adding that authorities "can impose UAPA on both of us."

A senior police officer described the action as a routine review of old warrants unrelated to the bypoll. Congress has said it will approach the High Court and the Election Commission. The arrest does not by itself disqualify Pradhan, though custody could hinder his campaign. Voting is on 6 October.