Bengal: Nandigram tensions rise, Congress campaign vehicle attacked

• Congress alleges BJP-backed men vandalised its vehicle and assaulted two people in Terpekhya.

• Party leaders call the allegations baseless and say the incident is being probed.

• Congress candidate remains behind bars ahead of the 6 October bypoll despite ongoing bail proceedings.

Tensions are rising in Nandigram ahead of the 6 October Assembly bypoll after a Congress campaign vehicle was vandalised in the Terpekhya trekker stand area on Monday, 28 September. Congress leaders accused BJP-backed miscreants of carrying out the attack, while the BJP denied any involvement.

According to Congress leaders, the campaign tableau had arrived from Kolkata and took a wrong turn while its team was looking for fuel. The vehicle eventually reached Terpekhya, where a group of around 20-25 people allegedly surrounded it.

Subrata Mahapatra, chief election agent of incarcerated Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, alleged that the group attacked the vehicle with bricks and sticks and assaulted the driver and a party worker inside.

The vehicle's windscreen and windows were smashed. Congress said the driver and a party worker were beaten but managed to escape. The party has lodged a complaint with the police observer and said it would hold protest meetings and rallies across Nandigram.

"Milan Pradhan is our candidate, and the campaign vehicle had arrived today to begin campaigning. The BJP is afraid of defeat because its candidate is an outsider, while Milan Pradhan is a 'son of the soil' from Sonachura," Mahapatra said.

Congress leaders reached Terpekhya after being informed about the incident, while personnel from Nandigram police station also arrived at the spot. An investigation is under way to identify those responsible and establish the circumstances surrounding the attack.

The BJP rejected the allegations. Meghnad Pal, the party's district general secretary, said he had no information about the incident and that inquiries were being made.

Pralay Pal, vice-president of the BJP's Tamluk organisational district, called the Congress allegations baseless. "You cannot expect to be in the opposition without facing beatings, legal cases or jail time. We have gone through all of that, yet we never abandoned the street-level struggle. They do not stay with the public all year round, which is why the public beat them up. The BJP cannot be held responsible for this."

The incident comes as Pradhan remains in judicial custody, leaving Congress to campaign without its candidate on the ground. Pradhan was arrested on 18 September in connection with cases dating back to the 2007 anti-land acquisition agitation in Nandigram, shortly after Mamata Banerjee announced that her TMC faction would support him after its own candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew her nomination.

The legal battle over Pradhan's release has continued in the Calcutta High Court. A division bench on 25 September set aside relief granted to him by a single bench and directed him to seek regular bail. He remains in judicial custody, with the court's proceedings spread across multiple cases.

The contest has also unfolded against a wider confrontation over the Election Commission and electoral rolls. Congress workers have held protests across West Bengal demanding the arrest and resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging irregularities and 'vote theft' in the electoral process. Demonstrations were held in Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur, with a delegation also submitting a memorandum to the Kanthi subdivisional officer.

With voting scheduled for 6 October and campaigning set to end on 4 October, the attack on the Congress campaign vehicle adds to the political tension in a constituency that has long been one of the most closely watched battlegrounds in West Bengal.