The Congress party accuses the BJP of political revenge as their candidate for the Nandigram Assembly bye-election is arrested hours after Mamata Banerjee's faction announces support for him.
On Friday, the Congress candidate for the Nandigram bye-election, Milan Pradhan, was arrested in connection with a 2007 murder case. This arrest took place just hours after Mamata Banerjee's faction of the Trinamool Congress announced their support for Pradhan in the October 6 bye-election.
The announcement followed Sanchita Pradhan's withdrawal from the race, and the subsequent sharing of photographs showing her meeting Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari online. Banerjee accused the BJP of using an old case to arrest Pradhan 'just after we announced support to the Congress'. She also alleged that the Election Commission was working with the BJP to 'kill democracy'.
In a social media post on Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described the arrest as a 'murder of democracy' and stated that it was no coincidence but political revenge by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Other opposition leaders, including Mahua Moitra, have questioned Pradhan's arrest and demanded information about his whereabouts. The bye-poll in Nandigram was necessitated after Suvendu Adhikari vacated the seat following his win in the Assembly elections in May.
Source:
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