In relief to Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), its Rejinagar by-election candidate, Rabiul Alam Chowdhury, backtracked on his decision to withdraw from the poll. Chowdhury has decided to stay in the bypoll race, according to local media reports.
The development came a day after the party’s Nandigram candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew from the contest.
Earlier, Chowdhury had announced his decision to withdraw his candidature, citing the primary reason as the failure to secure the Trinamool Congress party symbol—the ‘Twin Flowers’, news agency ANI reported.
Deep Dive
What led Rabiul Alam Chowdhury to withdraw from the Rejinagar bypoll?
How did Mamata Banerjee respond to Sanchita Pradhan Dey's withdrawal from the Nandigram bypoll?
What are the implications of the Election Commission's freeze on the TMC symbol for the upcoming bypolls?
Also Read | Nandigram bypoll: TMC’s Mamata camp candidate withdraws nomination day after meeting Suvendu
Assembly bypolls to Nandigram in East Medinipur district and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district are scheduled for October 6, with vote counting on October 9.
Sanchita Pradhan withdraws from Nandigram
The Nandigram bypoll took a dramatic turn as Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew from the race, prompting Mamata Banerjee to back Congress nominee Milan Pradhan, who was arrested later in a two-decade-old case.
{{/usCountry}}The Nandigram bypoll took a dramatic turn as Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew from the race, prompting Mamata Banerjee to back Congress nominee Milan Pradhan, who was arrested later in a two-decade-old case.
{{/usCountry}}Leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, claimed on Friday that Pradhan's arrest was "no coincidence," but rather politically motivated.
“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,” Gandhi said.
"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," he added in the post.
On the other hand, Pradhan Dey had met chief minister Suvendu Adhikari along with her husband Satyajit before withdrawing her nomination, a day ahead of the deadline, news agency PTI reported.
Also Read | Mamata Banerjee moves Supreme Court against ECI freeze on TMC symbol
Mamata Banerjee moves SC against ECI freeze on TMC symbol
Mamata Banerjee has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission's decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress' name and party symbol amid a dispute between two rival factions of the TMC.
In her petition filed before the SC on Friday, the ex-CM challenged the poll panel’s interim order passed on Thursday, freezing the original party symbol and asking both factions to choose a name and symbol of their choice, as HT reported earlier.
(with inputs from agencies)