Arrested but unfazed, Congress candidate in Nandigram to contest poll from prison

Police picked him up and Milan Pradhan on Friday evening, put in separate vehicles and taken to the seaside resort of Mandarmani, approximately 90 kilometres away from Nandigram, claimed Subhashish Bhattacharya, secretary West Bengal Congress. Speaking to the media on Saturday, a visibly shaken Bhattacharya recalled that he was resting after the day’s campaigning got over on Friday when he heard Pradhan screaming that he was being abducted by BJP workers and the police. He rushed out to see Pradhan being dragged to a police vehicle even as he resisted.

The policemen asked about his identity and warned him against interfering. When he persisted, he too was blindfolded and bundled into a separate vehicle. Bhattacharya, the district observer of the Congress, recalled, "I was sleeping in the house when I heard someone screaming. It was Milan (Pradhan)...I ran over and saw them dragging him away...they were trying to force him into the vehicle, but I blocked them. I argued with the police for at least fifteen minutes—it was a heated exchange...eventually, they took both of us; they blindfolded us and put us in separate vehicles. They drove us far away to a resort in Mandarmani. Once there, the SDPO made a request: 'If you withdraw from the election, we will release him.'

While Bhattacharya was released around 2 am, Pradhan was produced before a court on Saturday afternoon. Police told the court that Pradhan was absconding for 19 years and was evading arrest; that there were several warrants of arrest pending against him in four criminal cases dating back to 2007. The cases were filed against dozens of people involved in protests against land acquisition by the state government of fertile land for Tata’s planned automobile factory. Suvendu Adhikari, the present BJP chief minister, was among them and was at the time an active Congress worker along with his father, Sishir Adhikari.

Pradhan had filed his nomination on 13 September 2026 as the Congress candidate. Why did the police wait till 18 September before arresting him? How credible are the claims of the police that Pradhan was evading arrest? Congress leaders pointedly said that there were similar criminal cases filed in 2007 against Adhikari and his father too. How is it that they have got away and Pradhan is in jail? Most of the cases have been withdrawn over the years but because of legal technicalities, warrants were issued against some of the accused in 2021 and 2023. The claim that Pradhan, who has been politically active, was absconding is laughable, said Congress leaders.

The cases were filed when the Left front Government was in power and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya was the chief minister. It was Suvendu Adhikari who was one of the leading lights of the agitation in Nandigram and Khejuri. In a twist of fortune, Adhikari is now the chief minister and it is his police which executed the arrest warrants against Pradhan.

Congress leaders said the party will approach the High Court on Monday against the 14-day judicial remand that ends on 3 October, three days before the polling. However, there is no question of Congress withdrawing from the contest. The campaign will continue, said WBPCC president Subhankar Sarkar. He said, “If our candidate is sent to jail, thousands of Milan Pradhans will take to the field in Nandigram and campaign. They will distribute leaflets. People will decide.”

Congress spokesperson and a lawyer Ajitesh Pandey said, “The police told the court that they had been unable to locate Milan for 19 years. Yet, they found him several days after he became a candidate! Isn't that strange?” Congress workers demonstrated against Pradhan’s arrest across the state on Saturday. Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya and South Kolkata Congress President Mita Chakraborty led a protest march from Park Circus, joined by hundreds of party workers and supporters. Carrying placards condemning the arrest of Nandigram Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, the protesters demanded his immediate release.