Archive · 20 Sep 2026
Nandigram Bypoll Candidate Arrest Revives Anger Against Chief Minister Suvendu
Milan Pradhan is a Congress candidate in an election in Nandigram.
He was arrested in an old case connected to protests in 2007.
A court refused to release him on bail and ordered him held for 14 days.
This means he cannot campaign until the final day of campaigning.
Police said they were following an order from the Election Commission.
Some former protest leaders believe the cases were reopened because of the BJP.
They say Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari once supported dropping the cases but now leads the government under which Pradhan was arrested.
BJP supporters say the arrest followed a legal warrant and was not something the chief minister could stop.
The by-election is scheduled for October 6.
Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested in connection with a reopened 2007 Nandigram land-agitation murder case.
A Haldia court denied bail and sent Pradhan to 14 days’ judicial custody, preventing him from campaigning.
Police said they executed a pending arrest warrant under an Election Commission order.
Former land-agitation comrades and Congress leaders accused Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari of betraying Nandigram and reversing his earlier support for withdrawing the cases.
BJP leaders defended the arrest, saying Pradhan should have sought anticipatory bail and that the chief minister could not intervene.
- Who
- Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested; Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and former Nandigram land-agitation participants are central to the dispute.
- What
- Pradhan was arrested in a reopened murder case linked to the 2007 anti-land-acquisition movement and was remanded to judicial custody.
- When
- He was arrested on Friday, sent to custody on Saturday, and is due in another court on Monday; the by-election is on October 6.
- Where
- The arrest occurred at a hotel in Chandipur, East Midnapore, and the custody order was issued by a court in Haldia.
- Why
- Police said they acted on an Election Commission order enforcing a pending warrant, while critics said the cases were reopened through BJP efforts and politically betrayed the protesters.
Critics and Congress
Police and BJP
Political responsibility
Critics and Congress
Former comrades and Congress leaders accused Suvendu Adhikari of betraying Nandigram after previously supporting the withdrawal of cases against land agitators.
Police and BJP
BJP leaders said the chief minister had no scope to intervene because the arrest followed a legal warrant and an Election Commission direction.
Legality of the arrest
Critics and Congress
Milan Pradhan’s lawyer said the cases had been reopened because of BJP efforts and described the cases as purportedly false.
Police and BJP
Police said they merely carried out the Election Commission’s order, while BJP leader Ashok Karan blamed Pradhan for not seeking anticipatory bail.
Election Commission’s role
Critics and Congress
Critics view the poll panel as politically aligned with the BJP and question the timing of the arrest during the campaign.
Police and BJP
Police maintained that the commission directed them to execute a pending warrant and that the arrest was an administrative legal action.
- Candidate arrested
- Milan Pradhan, the Congress candidate for the Nandigram by-election
- Custody order
- Haldia court ordered 14 days of judicial custody and rejected bail
- Arrest basis
- Police said they executed a pending warrant under an Election Commission order
- Next hearing
- Pradhan is scheduled to appear before the Contai sub-divisional court in another case
- Election date
- The Nandigram by-election is scheduled for October 6
- 2007 protest
- The land-acquisition protest followed the deaths of at least 14 villagers in firing on March 14, 2007
- Cases reopened
- A Calcutta High Court order led to murder cases against 108 people being reopened in a Haldia court