Kolkata, Sept. 18 -- In the ongoing political saga ahead of the West Bengal bypolls, the Nandigram contest was thrown into fresh turmoil on Friday as Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested by the state police, just minutes after former chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her faction would support him in the October 6 Assembly bypoll.
The dramatic turn of events came on a day of rapid-fire developments that had already reshaped the Nandigram contest and Bengal's political
landscape, with Banerjee's candidate withdrawing from the race and the Election Commission of India (ECI) allotting new names and symbols to the rival TMC factions.
Party leader Kalyan Banerjee said that the party is likely to move the Supreme Court, challenging the ECI's decision to bar Mamata's faction from using the original "All India Trinamool Congress" name and its traditional "twin flowers & grass" symbol.
The legal challenge, if made, will add another front to the escalating battle over the identity and control of the TMC,
with the poll panel having frozen the party's original name and symbol pending adjudication of the rival claims.
Earlier in the day, the Mamata-led TMC faction's Nandigram candidate, Sanchita Pradhan De, withdrew from the contest after meeting Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, leaving the faction without a candidate in the seat. Banerjee subsequently announced her decision to back Congress nominee Pradhan, describing the move as being in the
"greater interest of the nation" and aimed at strengthening Opposition coordination.
The arrest of Pradhan, coming minutes after the announcement of Mamata's support, added yet another twist to an already volatile bypoll battle.
Congress questioned the timing, while police said the action was linked to an old case dating back to the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement.
The developments unfolded a day after the ECI froze the TMC's original name and its traditional symbol and name amid the bitter dispute between rival factions over the party's organisational control and identity.
For the bypolls, Banerjee's faction has been allotted the name "Mamata All India Trinamool Congress" (MAITMC) and the "Football Player" symbol, while the rival faction has been given the name "Democratic Trinamool Congress" (DTMC) and the "Envelope" symbol.
Questioning the timing of the arrest, Mamata Banerjee alleged in a post on social media that the BJP was following its "usual formula" of digging up an old case to target the Opposition.
"Minutes after we extended our support to the Congress candidate for the bypoll in Nandigram, the Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested," Banerjee said.
"But why now? Just after we announced support to the Congress!"
She alleged that the BJP's politics of "vendetta and atrocities" showed a pattern of "manipulation, vote loot and intimidation", and claimed that an "Election Agency-BJP partnership" was "killing democracy every day".
Banerjee described the ECI's interim decision as a "black day" in the country's democratic history and called it unconstitutional, illegal, undemocratic and biased.She alleged that the decision was aimed at satisfying the "ego" of a political party and said her faction would challenge it through legal and democratic means."We are not going to bow our heads and neither will we surrender. We will fight and bounce back," Banerjee said, reiterating that she would continue her fight over the party's name and symbol.
Commenting on the withdrawal of her party's Nandigram candidate, Sanchita Pradhan De, following her meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Mamata Banerjee said: "She has been threatened. She has a child; I understand her situation." Following that, Banerjee announced support for Congress candidate Milan Pradhan, describing Congress as a "sister party" and saying the move aimed at strengthening the INDIA bloc.
She also announced support for Congress in the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll in Assam.
Banerjee said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had spoken to her and that other Opposition leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, had communicated their support. She said Opposition parties would remain united against the BJP.
The Congress announced protests outside all police stations across West Bengal on Saturday over Pradhan's arrest. Pradesh Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar is also scheduled to visit Nandigram.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said the development showed that the BJP was afraid of the opposition and wanted to "mute" it by any means.
Meanwhile, Ritabrata Banerjee said that the Democratic Trinamool Congress received its first-choice symbol and third-choice name from the ECI.
He said the word "Democratic" in the party's name reflected its character, adding that unlike the other faction, they would not run the party by using an individual's name.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.