Nandigram Bypoll: Pradhan Starts Campaign After Bail, State Challenges HC Order

Congress candidate Milan Pradhan began his campaign for the Nandigram Assembly byelection on Wednesday, hours after being released from a correctional home in Haldia in East Midnapore.

The Bengal government has also approached the Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay on the Calcutta High Court order granting Pradhan interim bail till October 20.

The Election Commission of India has scheduled byelections in Nandigram and Rejinagar for October 6. The results will be declared on October 9, while campaigning will end on October 4.

Nandigram fell vacant after Suvendu Adhikari, who won both seats in the May Assembly election, chose to retain Bhabanipur and give up Nandigram.

Campaign After Release

Pradhan held a roadshow in a jeep after stepping out of custody and addressed a campaign event.

Speaking at the event, he alleged that he was taken into custody after refusing to withdraw his nomination.

“I was almost dragged out of the hotel in Chandipur and shoved into a car by some police officers. I was blindfolded. I was then taken to a hotel where I was offered fruit juice, dry fruits and other dishes while being asked to withdraw my nomination. I refused. Later I was again blindfolded and taken to Chandipur police station where I was arrested in a 19-year-old case,” Pradhan said, reported Hindustan Times.

Subhasish Bhattacharya, the state Congress general secretary, said Pradhan was received outside the correctional home by state Congress president Subhankar Sarkar and other party leaders on Wednesday.

Bhattacharya said Pradhan then went home to seek his parents’ blessings before beginning his campaign.

Cases And Custody

Police arrested Pradhan on September 18 in connection with murder cases from 2007. Four cases were registered at Nandigram police station and two more in neighbouring Khejuri.

He had been in judicial remand. This week, the Contai and Haldia lower courts in East Midnapore sent him to judicial custody till October 7.

The Calcutta High Court subsequently granted him interim bail till October 20 on Tuesday.

The high court also questioned the timing of his arrest. A bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya had earlier observed that it was surprising that although the criminal prosecution dated back to 2007, police had sought to show Pradhan as arrested before the court in 2026.

Political Reactions

Mamata Banerjee, who leads the Mamata Trinamool Congress (TMC) faction of the All India Trinamool Congress, backed Congress nominee Milan Pradhan after the TMC’s Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her nomination.

The Bengal government moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking a stay on the Calcutta High Court’s order. It argued that a murder accused facing six non-bailable warrants should not have been granted such relief.

BJP candidate Hasi Rani Rath said the party would not “stoop to such a low level” as to stifle the voice of opposition candidates.

“Law will take its own course. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will never stoop to such a low level where it would stifle the voice of the candidates of the opposition parties,” Rath added.