Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury has decided to remain in the Rejinagar Assembly bypoll, reversing his earlier decision to withdraw from the contest. His decision comes a day after the party’s Nandigram candidate, Sanchita Pradhan Dey, withdrew from the race.

Chowdhury had earlier announced that he would withdraw his candidature. He cited the failure to receive the TMC’s official party symbol, the ‘Twin Flowers’, as the main reason for his decision, news agency ANI reported. He has now decided to continue his campaign and contest the by-election.

The Assembly bypolls in Nandigram in East Medinipur district and Rejinagar in Murshidabad district are scheduled for October 6. Votes will be counted on October 9.

The Nandigram contest witnessed a major development after Sanchita Pradhan Dey withdrew her nomination. Following her withdrawal, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee backed Congress candidate Milan Pradhan. Pradhan was later arrested in connection with a case dating back two decades.

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi criticised the arrest in a post on X on Friday. He alleged that the action was politically motivated and questioned the conduct of the upcoming election.

“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.

Meanwhile, Pradhan Dey had met West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari along with her husband Satyajit before withdrawing her nomination. She withdrew her candidature a day before the deadline, news agency PTI reported.

The developments come amid an ongoing dispute over the TMC’s name and election symbol. Mamata Banerjee has approached the Supreme Court against the Election Commission’s decision to freeze the Trinamool Congress’ name and party symbol.

In her petition filed before the Supreme Court on Friday, Banerjee challenged the Election Commission’s interim order issued on Thursday. The order froze the original party symbol and directed both rival factions to choose separate names and symbols for the contest.