Bengal: Hours after Mamata backs him, Nandigram Cong candidate arrested

The Nandigram by-election took a dramatic turn on Friday, 18 September when Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested in connection with an old murder case related to a land acquisition dispute, just hours after Trinamool Congress (TMC) founder and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her faction would support his candidature. Observer Subhashis Bhattacharya was arrested alongside Pradhan.

The arrest came on a day that had already seen extraordinary upheaval in the constituency. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction lost its familiar party name and symbol, its candidate Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew from the contest, and Mamata subsequently threw her support behind Pradhan.

Pradhan was arrested while campaigning, with reports saying the case relates to a murder connected to the violence surrounding the 2007 Nandigram movement. Police said he would be produced before a Haldia court on Saturday.

The timing of the arrest immediately triggered allegations of political vendetta from the Congress and Mamata faction, though the state's ruling BJP rejected any suggestion of political interference and said the police were carrying out their duties.

The day's political upheaval began with the withdrawal of Dey, who had been nominated by the Mamata faction only days earlier. She met West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari at Nabanna on Friday and subsequently withdrew her nomination.

With her faction left without a candidate in Nandigram, Mamata announced her support for Pradhan. "We are supporting the Congress in Nandigram. It is for the greater interest of the country," she said at a press conference in Kolkata. "We are ready to fight it out."

Within hours, however, Pradhan was arrested while campaigning. State Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar alleged political vendetta and said, "They will not allow anyone else to contest elections. Democracy will not survive BJP's aggression; the multi-party system will cease to exist. They want ‘one nation, one party’."

The BJP rejected the allegation and maintained that the police were acting in accordance with the law.

The Mamata faction also protested against the arrest. Party MLA Kunal Ghosh said, "We strongly condemn this. An arrest immediately after Mamata Banerjee extended her support! How is this possible?"

He added that Mamata had expressed her displeasure and demanded Pradhan's immediate release.

The arrest, however, does not by itself mean that Pradhan has been disqualified from contesting the election.

Criminal lawyer Swades Taral said, "Under Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, disqualification is principally triggered by conviction and the prescribed sentence, not merely by the registration of a case or an arrest. The Supreme Court has also held that an accused in custody does not automatically lose the right to contest, though custody can prevent campaigning unless a court grants appropriate relief."

Pradhan's immediate legal position will therefore depend on the proceedings before the Haldia court, including whether he is granted bail. The status of his nomination following scrutiny by the returning officer will also be significant.

The Nandigram contest had already been thrown into uncertainty by the Election Commission's decision to prevent the rival TMC factions from using the party's name and reserved symbol in the bypoll.

The concentration of developments in a single constituency within hours has made Nandigram an unusually turbulent contest ahead of polling on 6 October.

For the Congress, the immediate issue is whether its candidate's arrest will affect his ability to campaign and ultimately contest the election. For Mamata's faction, the arrest has added another flashpoint to an already bitter political and organisational battle.