AICC general secretary K C Venugopal on Saturday said the Congress would not withdraw its candidate Milan Pradhan from the Nandigram Assembly bypoll and would make his arrest a national issue.
Pradhan was arrested on Friday in connection with an old murder case linked to the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement, according to Congress leaders. He has been named in more than 12 cases linked to the land movement, party sources said.
Pradhan was picked up from a hotel in Chandipur in Purba Medinipur district, according to party sources.
The arrest came hours after Mamata Banerjee announced that her faction of the Trinamool Congress would support Pradhan in the Nandigram bypoll, following the withdrawal of its own candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey.
Speaking to reporters, Venugopal alleged that Pradhan was arrested soon after the TMC extended its support to him.
“Within an hour of Mamata Banerjee extending support to the Congress candidate, the police took that candidate into custody,” he said, referring to the 2007 Nandigram agitation.
Venugopal also alleged that when Congress leaders went to the police station to ask about the arrest, they were told that there was no real case and that Pradhan was being held temporarily.
He further alleged that police were pressuring Pradhan to withdraw from the election by offering to drop cases against him and provide other facilities.
“Is this the democracy functioning in this country?” Venugopal asked.
Venugopal alleged that the BJP was trying to eliminate Opposition voices in West Bengal. He also said the Congress, and not the CPI(M), was fighting the BJP in the state.
“We will turn Nandigram into a national issue. Make no mistake about it,” he said.
He also questioned the Election Commission’s response to the developments and asked how a candidate could be prevented from functioning after filing his nomination.
“If there was a genuine case, it would be understandable. But bringing up a 15-year-old case now and saying, ‘We will drop all cases if you withdraw’?” he said.
Venugopal said he had spoken to Pradhan and his relatives and claimed that the candidate had made it clear that he would not withdraw from the contest.
“The candidate explicitly told us, ‘Even if you kill me, I will not withdraw.’ I feel proud of that candidate,” Venugopal said.
He said Pradhan would contest the bypoll and that Congress leaders and workers would campaign for him.
“We will make Nandigram a national issue because this is the darkest chapter in Indian democracy,” he said.
Venugopal also alleged that the BJP was turning Bengal into a “banana republic” and accused the Election Commission of acting as an “agent of Prime Minister Modi”.
“No Congress worker will rest until we put an end to the BJP’s fascism in this country,” he said.