Congress' Nandigram Pick Arrested After Mamata Banerjee Announces Support

Congress candidate Milan Pradhan has been arrested in West Bengal in connection with an old alleged murder case, hours after former chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her faction would support his candidature in the October 6 Nandigram Assembly bypoll.

Pradhan was arrested in connection with a murder case during the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition protests. The movement in Nandigram in 2007 is one of the defining struggles of Mamata Banerjee's political career. It helped the Trinamool Congress build its campaign against the Left Front, which had governed West Bengal for 34 years. The Trinamool Congress eventually came to power in 2011 and governed Bengal uninterrupted until the BJP put a spanner in the works in 2026 by winning the assembly elections. 

The arrest came after Mamata Banerjee announced at a press conference at her Kalighat residence on Friday that her faction would support the Congress candidate in Nandigram. Her announcement followed the withdrawal of Sanchita Pradhan Dey, who had been fielded by her faction, after a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.

"Sometime after Mamata Banerjee extended support to the Congress candidate from Nandigram, the way Congress candidate Milan Pradhan has been arrested is unbelievable. Why such lack of confidence, why such fear?" asked Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh, hours later. 

Democracy is on ventilator in BJP's West Bengal. This is BJP's latest effort to ensure “Opposition-Mukt Bharat”, successfully converting our great Constitutional democracy into a Banana Republic.

Using a dormant 19-year old case from 2007 to arrest our candidate - minutes after… https://t.co/khRTAzRYZ6

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) September 18, 2026

"Democracy is on ventilator in BJP's West Bengal. This is BJP's latest effort to ensure "Opposition-Mukt Bharat", successfully converting our great Constitutional democracy into a Banana Republic. Using a dormant 19-year old case from 2007 to arrest our candidate - minutes after Mamata Banerjee ji extended support - is a sign that BJP will go to any lengths to hijack democracy. We are the party that fought the oppressive British rule and drove them away, these petty intimidation tactics by their cheap copycats are not going to scare us. We will stand tall against this misuse of power, and we will ensure the BJP's defeat," said Congress leader KC Venugopal. 

Mamata Banerjee described the Congress as a "sister party" and said the decision was intended to strengthen the INDIA bloc.

"My faction had earlier decided to support Congress in Nandigram, and it is the beginning of a future," she said. "Let the message (for strengthening INDIA bloc) begin from Bengal." 

READ | Nandigram Candidate Abandons Her, Mamata Banerjee Pulls A Congress Surprise

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said Banerjee was free to make the announcement but stressed that the Congress had not requested her support.

"She is a political leader. She can say anything she wants. But the fact is she had fielded a candidate and now that her candidate has withdrawn, she is extending support to us. We have not asked for her support," Chowdhury said.

READ | Mamata Banerjee Loses Trinamool Symbol, Name, And Now Nandigram Candidate

The latest political developments in Nandigram unfolded alongside a dispute over the identity of the Trinamool Congress. The Election Commission on Friday froze the use of the name 'All India Trinamool Congress' and the party's traditional 'flowers and grass' symbol for the October 6 bypolls.

The poll panel subsequently allotted the Mamata Banerjee faction the name Mamata All India Trinamool Congress and the Football Player symbol. The rival faction led by Arup Roy was allotted the name Democratic Trinamool Congress and the Envelope symbol.