Hours after Congress Nandigram candidate was arrested, Rahul Gandhi questioned the BJP over the timing of the arrest, calling the episode the “murder of democracy”
Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday questioned the arrest of Congress candidate for Nandigram bypoll Milan Pradhan, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has “no faith in fair elections”.
Gandhi, a Congress MP from Raebareli, described the episode as the “murder of democracy”, asserting that the party would continue to fight and win.
Milan Pradhan, the Congress candidate for the upcoming Nandigram bypoll, was arrested on Friday in a 2007 murder case linked to the anti-land-acquisition movement in the constituency.
Writing on X, Gandhi wrote: “The arrest of Congress candidate Milan Pradhan for the Nandigram by-election is no coincidence—it is political revenge, the murder of democracy. The BJP has no faith in fair elections—that’s why it wants to cling to power sometimes through vote theft, sometimes through stealing governments, and sometimes through stealing parties.”
“They don’t want to contest elections; they want to end the electoral fight altogether. The Congress will neither fear nor bow down. We will fight—and we will win.”
Milan Pradhan Arrested
Milan Pradhan was fielded by the Congress for the upcoming Nandigram bypoll scheduled to be held on October 6. He was arrested on Friday, September 18, hours after former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee affirmed her faction’s support for his candidature.
This came after Sanchita Pradhan Dey, who was fielded by Mamata’s faction for the Nandigram bypoll, withdrew her candidature after meeting Chief Minister and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
