Congress Candidate Milan Pradhan Sent to Custody, Cannot Campaign for Nandigram.

Milan Pradhan, the Congress candidate for the Nandigram by-elections, was sent to judicial custody until October 3 by a court in East Midnapore’s Haldia.

His bail plea was rejected, meaning he cannot campaign for the by-elections scheduled for October 6. Police stated Pradhan was arrested in connection with four pending non-bailable arrest warrants from Nandigram police station, involving serious offenses including murder, attempt to murder, and abduction with intent to murder. Pradhan was arrested on Friday for four murder cases registered in 2007 during the farmland acquisition agitation, which killed 14 persons.

Police claim he had been absconding for 19 years. Subhankar Sarkar, state Congress president, urged Nandigram voters to protest through EVMs. The arrest occurred hours after former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her faction would support Pradhan following the withdrawal of their own candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey. Banerjee accused the BJP-led state government of reviving old cases after her faction announced support for the Congress candidate, calling the timing suspicious.

Rahul Gandhi also called Pradhan’s arrest political revenge. Pradhan's election affidavit reportedly lists 12 criminal cases registered in 2007, including four murder cases, all pending before the Haldia Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court. Three warrants were reportedly issued in 2021 and another in 2023.