West Bengal Congress moves HC for Nandigram candidate, challenges BJP candidate's affidavit

The West Bengal Congress on Wednesday said it has moved the Calcutta High Court seeking bail for its Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan, and also filed a writ petition challenging alleged discrepancies in the affidavit submitted by BJP nominee Hasirani Rath.

Congress seeks bail for Milan Pradhan

The party said the writ petition seeks judicial scrutiny of the alleged discrepancies and the Election Commission's "action or inaction" in the matter.

Bypoll in Nandigram is slated for October 6. The campaign ends on October 4, and the counting of votes is scheduled for October 9.

Pradhan was arrested last week in connection with cases filed against him during the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram. He was sent to judicial custody by a court till October 3 in four pending non-bailable arrest warrants in the 2007 case. Another court remanded him to judicial custody till October 5, in a two-decades-old Arms Act case.

Congress flags discrepancies in Rath's affidavit

The Congress, in its writ petition, has pointed out that BJP candidate Rath's affidavit stated that she was "60+ years" old and that she cleared Class 10 examination in 1965, revealing a discrepancy regarding her age and the time of attaining the educational qualification.

Rath has not mentioned her date of birth in the affidavit and said her age is "60+ years".

In the educational qualifications column, Rath mentioned she cleared the Class 10 exam from Chowkhali Ganga Padma Milan Kanya Vidyapith (HS) in 1965.

The entries do not add up. If Rath was 60 years old in 2026, her year of birth would be around 1966, a year after she completed Class 10, as stated in the poll affidavit. If she was 65, her birth year would be around 1961, meaning she completed Class 10 at an age of around four years.

Conversely, if she completed Class 10 at the more usual age of around 14-16 years, the 1965 qualification year would place her birth around 1949-51, making her approximately 75-77 years old in 2026.

Congress authorises representative for writ proceedings

In a statement, the Congress said, "Acting on the instructions of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Subhankar Sarkar, the party today moved the Calcutta High Court with a bail petition on behalf of Nandigram Congress candidate Milan Pradhan and a writ petition concerning the affidavit submitted by BJP candidate Hasirani Rath and the Election Commission of India's response to the alleged discrepancies."

For the writ proceedings, Sarkar authorised Mita Chakraborty to act as the state Congress' attorney and representative, including executing the vakalatnama and engaging advocates, the statement said.

Chakraborty is the chairperson of the WBPCC Media and Publicity Department and president of the South Kolkata District Congress Committee.

Advocate Ajitesh Pandey is the Advocate-on-Record, according to the statement.

On Friday, the Congress said that the party would raise the alleged discrepancy in Rath's poll affidavit with the Election Commission and urge it to investigate the matter. It had said the EC should cancel the nomination if the candidate failed to explain the discrepancy.