Mamata-backed candidate withdraws from West Bengal Nandigram by-poll

In a dramatic turn of events in West Bengal's Nandigram by-election campaign, Sanchita Pradhan De has withdrawn her candidacy just days after her nomination was processed and she was assigned her election symbol.

Pradhan De, fielded by the Trinamool Congress faction led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, had filed her nomination papers for the constituency. Following scrutiny of her documents, election officials allocated her the 'football player' symbol, a development that prompted immediate action.

Shortly after receiving her election symbol, Pradhan De travelled to the state secretariat Nabanna in Kolkata, where she held a meeting with Chief Minister Shubhendu Adhikari. The details of their discussion were not immediately disclosed.

Following the meeting, Pradhan De formally withdrew her candidacy from the electoral race, ending her campaign before polling day. The withdrawal has injected fresh uncertainty into the Nandigram by-election schedule, which was necessitated by a vacancy in the assembly segment.

The reasons cited by Pradhan De for her withdrawal have not been made public, leaving political observers to speculate on the factors that led to her decision to step back from the contest at this stage of the campaign.