Nandigram by-poll, a reset for Mamata and Congress ties

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses a press conference at Kalighat, in Kolkata on Friday (September 18, 2026). | Photo Credit: ANI

A lot happened over the past two days on Thursday (September 17, 2026) and Friday (September 18) that is likely to have a long bearing in West Bengal politics.

In the last hours on Thursday (September 17), the Election Commission of India froze the grass and twin flowers symbol and the name of All India Trinamool Congress. The Commission allocated separate symbols and names to both the rival factions of Trinamool Congress — the Mamata Banerjee faction and the Ritabrata Banerjee group. Mamata Banerjee and her loyalists were given the symbol of a football player alongside the name — Mamata All India Trinamool Congress, while the Ritabrata Banerjee faction was given the envelope symbol with the name — Democratic Trinamool Congress.

Even before Mamata Banerjee had formally reacted to the freezing of her party’s name and symbol, Congress leaders came to her defence . Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi criticised the ECI, saying the issue is not just Mamata Banerjee’s fight.

“It’s the fight of every political party, every voter who wants free and fair elections,” Mr. Gandhi posted on social media. The Congress leader said that when an entire party can be stolen, it’s hardly surprising that the votes of millions of Indians can be stolen too.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal also condemned the ECI’s decision and demanded that the party’s original symbol be restored to the Mamata Banerjee-led faction.

On Friday (September 18), as the Mamata Banerjee-led faction grappled with the loss of the original party name and symbol, its candidate for the Nandigram Assembly bypoll, Sanchita Pradhan (Dey), withdrew her candidature. Photographs of the candidate meeting West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari also surfaced on social media. With the deadline for filing nominations over, Mamata Banerjee announced her faction’s support for the Congress candidate , Milan Pradhan, in Nandigram. She also extended support to the Congress candidate in the Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll in Assam.

However, within hours of Mamata Banerjee announcing support for Mr. Pradhan, the Congress candidate was arrested by the West Bengal Police in connection with an old case linked to the Nandigram land agitation. The arrest triggered strong reactions from both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress. Mamata Banerjee questioned the timing of the arrest, particularly after announcing support for the Congress candidate.

“The BJP’s politics of vendetta and atrocities show a clear pattern. With manipulation, with vote loot, with intimidation the Election Agency-BJP partnership is killing democracy every day,” the former Chief Minister wrote on social media.

Mr. Gandhi described the arrest as a political revenge and murder of democracy.