New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) The Congress and the Trinamool Congress on Friday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while referring to the upcoming bypoll in West Bengal's Nandigram Assembly constituency as "farce", after the grand old party's candidate was arrested in an old murder case.
Earlier in the day, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had extended support to Congress' Milan Pradhan after, Sanchita Dey Pradhan, the candidate of the Trinamool Congress faction led by Banerjee, withdrew her nomination from the Nandigram bypoll.
In a self-made video, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: "When other opposition parties started extending support to Milan Pradhan, BJP got scared and out of desperation it has arrested Pradhan, in order to thwart our bright prospects in the bypoll and turn the election into a farce one."
Targeting the BJP, Chowdhury remarked: "It is really a stain on our democracy that election is being conducted by the same (BJP) government who are ruling the state (West Bengal) and who are controlling all the existing institutions in our country. They themselves are trying to make the election as a laughing stock, as a farce."
While condemning the arrest, the Congress leader said that he wants to draw the attention of Election Commission into the matter.
Congress leader Udit Raj added: "If the Congress candidate had also agreed to sit out or refused to contest, he wouldn't have been arrested. Therefore, the Trinamool Congress candidate must have been threatened, or bribed (due to which she withdrew). This is completely undemocratic."
Echoing similar view, Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh termed Padhan's arrest as "panic reaction" of the BJP.
"He (Milan Pradhan) was arrested right after Mamata Banerjee announced that she and her party are going to support the Congress candidate contesting the Nandigram bye-election. This is a panic reaction...This is a fascist government," he told reporters.
He also alleged: "'Police Raj' is going on here. The BJP is scared as it does not trust the public."
Ghosh demanded that the Congress candidate should be immediately released.
Nandigram, along with Rejinagar Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district, is going to bypolls on October 6 and the results will be declared on November 9.
--IANS
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