Kolkata, Sept. 24 -- A day before Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan's wife, Arpita Pradhan, was to start campaigning for him, the administration denied permission for her to hold a meeting at Nandigram market on Friday, despite the party claiming it had applied on time.
West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar on Thursday alleged that Milan was arrested in an old case because he refused to bow to pressure from the ruling party, calling the action a political vendetta.
Speaking at a Press conference at Bidhan Bhavan, Arpita said: "My husband is in jail. Therefore, I have to campaign in Nandigram. Tomorrow, September 25, I will go there and start campaigning from Nandigram market. This is not a fight of the Congress or the Opposition. This is the fight of the entire people of Nandigram."
Arpita questioned the timing of Milan's arrest and raised the issue of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's alleged involvement in the same case. "Why was my husband put in jail just before the election in such an old case? Suvendu Adhikari was also accused in the same case, so why is he outside?" she asked.
She alleged that Milan was targeted because he had remained with the Congress while several of his associates had changed parties. "My husband has been in Congress politics since his student days. He has never done anything wrong for money and has remained firm in his political beliefs," she said.
Subhasish Bhattacharya, Congress' observer for the bypoll, said the administration told him: "We are not bound to give reasons for the denial of permission." He alleged that the ruling party was fearing Milan's potential as a candidate. "Not only are they doing all these things, but they are also threatening ground-level workers who are engaged in campaigning," he said.
Arpita also thanked Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi for supporting Milan's candidature and appealed to Nandigram voters to stand by him.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.