Congress's Nandigram candidate arrested hours after Mamata announces support
What's the story
Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested on Friday in West Bengal over a 2007 murder case. The arrest came hours after former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her faction's support for Pradhan in the upcoming Nandigram Assembly bypoll. Sanchita Pradhan Dey, who was initially fielded by Banerjee's faction, withdrew her candidature following a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
Political support
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says no request for support from Banerjee
Banerjee had earlier announced her faction's support for Pradhan, calling the Congress a "sister party."
She said the decision was aimed at strengthening the INDIA bloc.
"My faction had earlier decided to support Congress in Nandigram, and it is the beginning of a future," she said.
However, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury clarified that his party hadn't sought Banerjee's backing.
Arrest backlash
Rahul Gandhi slams BJP, Trinamool counterattacks
Rahul Gandhi slammed Pradhan's arrest, saying, "The arrest of Congress candidate Milan Pradhan for the Nandigram by-election is no coincidence-it is political revenge, the murder of democracy."
He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was resorting to undemocratic means to cling to power.
Ritabrata Banerjee of the Democratic Trinamool Congress countered by saying three murder cases are pending against Pradhan.
He stated that executing warrants during elections is mandatory and that state Congress leadership may not have informed Gandhi.
Symbol allocation
Election Commission intervenes in dispute over Trinamool Congress name, symbol
Meanwhile, the Election Commission intervened in a dispute over the name and symbol of the Trinamool Congress.
It froze "All India Trinamool Congress" and its traditional symbol for upcoming bypolls.
The Mamata Banerjee faction was allotted "Mamata All India Trinamool Congress" with a Football Player symbol, while Arup Roy's faction got "Democratic Trinamool Congress" with an Envelope symbol.