Nandigram Bypoll: Mamata Backs Congress Candidate Milan Pradhan

Mamata Banerjee’s faction has announced its support for Congress candidate Milan Pradhan in the October 6 Nandigram Assembly bypoll after its own candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew her nomination. Banerjee said her faction would not field another candidate and would instead back Pradhan as a gesture of opposition unity and solidarity with the INDIA alliance. The decision has brought the TMC and Congress together for this particular contest, despite their separate electoral battles in West Bengal.

The political situation took another turn within hours of the announcement, when Pradhan was arrested in connection with old cases dating back to the 2007 Nandigram land-acquisition agitation. Police said the action was based on pending arrest warrants, while Congress and TMC leaders questioned the timing of the arrest. A court subsequently remanded Pradhan to judicial custody until October 3. The Nandigram bypoll has therefore become a closely watched contest amid changes involving party names and symbols and shifting political alignments in West Bengal.