Congress Candidate Alleges Intimidation in Nandigram By-Elections

Nandigram, October 6 (Daily Kiran) : Voting for the by-elections in Nandigram, West Bengal, commenced on Tuesday, October 6. Congress candidate Milan Pradhan raised serious allegations, claiming that despite everyone having the right to vote, goons were intimidating his supporters and workers.

Speaking to reporters, Pradhan stated, “This is a by-election. Every citizen must have the right to vote. There is supposed to be freedom here. However, there has been rampant intimidation since last night. My agents are being taken away, threatened, and forced to surrender documents. What is happening here? This is unacceptable. This is not a system of freedom.”

Pradhan further mentioned that a complaint had been lodged with the Election Commission of India, but they had yet to receive any response.

Previously, Pradhan had resumed campaigning after receiving interim bail from the Calcutta High Court in connection with cases linked to the 2007 Nandigram movement.

It is noteworthy that Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari won both the Nandigram and Bhawanipur seats in this year’s assembly elections. He subsequently decided to retain the Bhawanipur seat, leaving the Nandigram seat vacant, hence the ongoing voting. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 9.

The BJP has nominated Hasirani Rath as their candidate for Nandigram. She is the mother of Chandranath Rath, a close associate of Adhikari, who was tragically murdered on May 6 in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas.

On Monday, the Election Commission ordered the immediate replacement of the Inspector-in-Charge (IC) of the Nandigram police station. Ajay Kumar Mishra was replaced by Debashish Sarkar, previously the IC of the traffic control room in East Midnapore district.

In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, the Commission directed that the transfer be implemented immediately and a compliance report submitted by that evening. The reasons for this sudden change were not disclosed, drawing public attention, particularly given the timing just one day before the voting.