Congress candidate for the Nandigram Assembly by-election, Milan Pradhan, speaks to the media after getting interim bail, in Haldia, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Congress candidate for the Nandigram Assembly bypoll, Milan Pradhan, was released on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) from a correctional home in Haldia.
The Congress candidate was received by a large number of party workers outside the correctional home. “There is not much time left. The people of Nandigram want the son of the soil, not someone from outside, to win. I am confident of securing victory,” he told media persons.
Elections to the Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly seats are scheduled for October 6, while counting of votes will take place on October 9. Campaigning for the bypolls ends on October 4.
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday granted interim bail to Mr. Pradhan till October 20. Mr. Pradhan was arrested on September 18 on the basis of an FIR filed 19 years ago during the Nandigram land agitation.
The Congress candidate alleged that the police pressured him to withdraw his candidacy after they picked him up from a hotel. He said he refused and was blindfolded and taken to Chandipur at around 3 a.m., where his arrest was registered.
After the candidate of Mamata All India Trinamool Congress (MAITC) backed out of the contest, former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her support for Mr. Pradhan.
The arrest occurred hours after Ms. Banerjee’s announcement. In Mr. Pradhan’s absence, his wife and local Congress leaders campaigned in the constituency.
The Nandigram Assembly seat in Purba Medinipur fell vacant after former Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who won from both Bhabanipur and Nandigram in the Assembly polls, decided to resign as a legislator from Nandigram.
The BJP has fielded Hasirani Rath, mother of Mr. Adhikari’s aide Chandranath Rath (who was killed on May 6), in Nandigram. The contest is a prestige fight for Mr. Adhikari, who represented the seat from 2021 to 2026, when he was Leader of the Opposition.
The State government has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against Mr. Pradhan’s interim bail.
Meanwhile, two Congress leaders, Manick Fakir and Sukriti Ranjan Biswas, who were campaigning for the party in Nandigram, were detained by the police.
Published – September 30, 2026 07:48 pm IST
