News Analysis India

Tag: Bengal elections

  • ‘Attack’ on Mamata: Six-member Trinamool delegation to meet EC in Delhi on Friday

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A six-member parliamentary delegation of the Trinamool Congress will meet Election Commission officials in Delhi on Friday over concerns following the alleged attack on TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the party sources said.

    Six TMC MPs from both the Houses of Parliament have flown to the capital to be part of the delegation which will meet the EC at 12 noon.

    The delegation comprises Derek O’Brien (Leader, AITC Parliamentary Party, Rajya Sabha), Saugata Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (MP, Lok Sabha), Satabdi Roy (MP, Lok Sabha), Pratima Mondal (MP, Lok Sabha) and Santanu Sen (MP, Rajya Sabha).

    A delegation of the party also met poll panel officials in Kolkata on Thursday and later alleged that the “Election Commission did nothing despite there being reports of a possible attack on Banerjee”.

    ALSO READ | ‘Attack’ on Mamata: EC asks Bengal administration to be more cautious about security for VVIPs

    Claiming that the attack was a “deep-rooted conspiracy to take the life of the TMC supremo”, party leaders alleged that anti-social elements have been mobilised from the neighbouring states by the BJP in Nandigram to unleash violence.

    The EC can’t shun responsibility as it is in charge of the law-and-order situation in poll-bound West Bengal, it said.

    The Trinamool Congress supremo was injured in the leg after being allegedly pushed by unidentified people near a temple at Reyapara area during campaigning at Nandigram on Wednesday, where the BJP has pitted her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari against her.

    ALSO READ | Not to indulge in politics over CM’s injuries, want probe: BJP on visiting Mamata at hospital

    Banerjee alleged that she was pushed by four to five men while she was trying to get into the car, following which she fell flat on her face.

    The EC on Thursday sent a strongly-worded letter to the TMC on its memorandum over injuries to Banerjee during campaign, saying it looks “undignified to even respond” to allegations that the poll panel is doing things in the state at the behest of a “particular party”.

  • Attacks and injuries shaped Mamata’s four-decade-long political career

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee has earned for herself the image of the gutsy political leader, who has weathered physical attacks and injuries in her four-decade- long career to emerge stronger in her public life.

    Her comebacks after such incidents saw her attacking her opposition with greater ferocity.

    The TMC supremo’s image as a fearless fighter, endowed with nerves of steel and political acumen who can become one with legions of her supporters, took shape after one such deadly attack when she was hit on the head by a CPI-M youth leader in 1990 and had to be confined to a hospital bed for an entire month.

    Again in July 1993 Banerjee, then a Youth Congress member, was beaten up by the police when she lead a rally to Writers’ Buildings, the erstwhile secretariat, demanding voter photo identity cards.

    The rallyists had clashed with the police prompting the force to fire killing 14 Youth Congress activists.

    Banerjee was beaten up and then too she was under treatment in the hospital for a few weeks.

    The Bengal chief minister, who is presently facing one of the toughest political battles of her career, is in hospital yet again with her leg in a cast and complaints of chest pain after being injured in an alleged attack on Wednesday night at Nandigram hours after she filed her nomination for the seat.

    Banerjee has said that she was attacked by four to five men on that day.

    The battle is crucial this time as BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition, has thrown down the gauntlet and aims to stop her from returning to power for the third straight time.

    Nandigram is where she will take on her former protege and now BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.

    The place had played a significant role in her career as the historic anti-farmland acquisition movement led by her party there in 2007 in the face of violence and police bullets saw her emerging as a giant slayer.

    Riding the crest of the movement, she had led TMC to defeat the longest serving democratically elected communist regime of the world in 2011.

    The CPI-M;led Left Front had to bite the dust that year in West Bengal after helming the the state for 34 long years.

    A quick look at the 66-year-old leader’s political journey in the mid-1970s shows how injuries and physical assaults have shaped her political career over the years.

    Banerjee, then Youth Congress leader, first came into the limelight after defeating CPI(M) stalwart and former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee from Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency in 1984 riding the sympathy wave following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

    She, however, lost the 1989 Parliamentary polls.

    The attack on her on August 16, 1990 by DYFI leader Lalu Alam who hit her on the head with a stick had taken place at Hazra crossing in the city, the scene of many of her agitations, near her Kalighat residence.

    The attack had fractured her skull.

    The incident had made her a household name in the state and one of the tallest mass leaders of West Bengal Congress on the same pedestal as stalwarts like A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and Somen Mitra.

    Banerjee was in her 30s then.

    Three years later in January 1993, Banerjee, then president of the state Youth Congress, had stormed into Writers’ Buildings with a hearing-and speech-impaired girl heavily pregnant after being raped by a CPI-M man.

    She had led a three-hour-long dharna in front of the chambers of the then chief minister Jyoti Basu alleging that the rapist had not been arrested because of his political affiliations.

    Banerjee had sat with the victim on the floor virtually laying a seige on the chief minister’s office demanding immediate arrest of the rapist and an audience from Basu.

    After the police failed to persuade her, a huge contingent of the force had reached Writers’ Buildings, dragged her by the hair, put her in a prison van and whisked her to the nearby Lalbazar central police lock up.

    In 2000-01, just two years after she broke away from the Congress and formed Trinamool Congress, her vehicle was repeatedly attacked at Keshpur and Chamakaitala in West Midnapore district, where several TMC workers were killed during the bloody turf war between the party and CPI(M).

    Crude bombs were hurled at her car in 2001 whe she visited Choto Angaria in West Midnapore where 11 workers of her party had been killed in political clashes.

    In 2006 and 2007 Banerjee was attacked on several occasions by alleged CPI(M) goons who threw bombs and fired at her car to stop her entry into Nandigram – then a battlefield due to the anti-farm land acquisition movement.

    In 2006 during her protest outside the office of the block development officer at Singur, she was dragged by the police and removed from the spot.

    In 2010 during her tenure as Railway Minister, a car in Banerjee’s convoy was hit by a truck.

    The TMC supremo was returning from a rally at the then Maoist bastion of Lalgarh and had alleged that it was an attempt on her life.

    Such incidents, however, did not occur since TMC came to power in 2011 and Banerjee became the chief minister until Wednesday’s attack at Nandigram.

    The attacks on her had been greeted with derision by her political opponents.

    CPI-M had on several occasions alleged that Banerjee had herself scripted the “dramas” of being attacked to gain sympathy.

    The TMC has claimed that Wednesday’s incident was a “well planned conspiracy” by BJP to “remove” her from the poll campaign.

    “Mamata Banerjee is a fighter. The more you attack her she makes a comeback with more ferocity,” TMC leader Sougata Roy said.

    Banerjee has described herself as a “street fighter” many times in the past.

    “Many people don’t want her to campaign for the elections. They want her to be removed from their path. The BJP should be ashamed that it has stooped so low that its supporters are attacking a woman,” Roy said.

    The BJP has denied the allegation and said Banerjee is only trying to get sympathy votes.

    West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the attack on Banerjee at Nandigram saying that it needs to be seen whether the incident was a “well-scripted drama” to garner votes.

    “The people of the state have seen such a drama earlier too”, he added.

    The Congress too has been critical about the alleged attack on Banerjee at Nandigram.

    Its state party president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had on Wednesday accused her of resorting to “hypocrisy and theatrics” to gain public sympathy ahead of the assembly polls.

    Chowdhury, who is also the Congress’ leader in Lok Sabha, said Banerjee is “feeling the heat” in Nandigram and is thus resorting to “stunts and drama”.

  • ‘Khela Hobe’: Trinamool’s poll jingle goes viral, BJP uses it to hit back at Mamata camp

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: TMC’s popular poll jingle ‘Khela Hobe’ (game is on) seems to have also caught the fancy of rival BJP, as political heavyweights of both the parties draw references to its lyrics, sometimes even building slogans around the song, at their public metings in Bengal.

    Originally written and uploaded on YouTube by TMC leader Debangshu Bhattacharya in January, the jingle has since undergone many variations, with the party’s Birbhum strongman Anubrata Mondal first giving it a spin and chanting ‘bhoyonkor khela hobe’ (fierce game will be played) at a rally.

    “The song ‘Khela Hobe’ has been able to establish an instant connect with people. It has received a favourable response from youth across the state,” Bhattacharya said.

    At a recent rally in Kamarhati constituency addressed by Bhattacharya, a thousand-strong crowd lapped up every word of the song delivered in a rap format.

    Former minister and the ruling camp’s candidate from the constituency, Madan Mitra, has recorded his own version of ‘Khela Hobe’, while the party’s Ghatal MLA Shankar Dolai was recently seen dancing wildly to the beats of the song at a roadshow.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also been asking voters at rallies if they were ready for the game to begin (Khela Hobe?), drawing loud cheers from the crowd.

    “Khela Hobe. Ami goalkeeper. Dekhi ke jete,” (the game is on. I will do the goal keeping. Let’s wait and see who wins,” Banerjee said at a meeting.

    The BJP, which had initially criticised the TMC for likening the political battle with a game and “trivialising” the democratic process, co-adopted the slogan later, with defence minister Rajnath Singh, among other saffron camp leaders, bringing ‘khela hobe’ references in their speech, in a bid to take a jibe at Banerjee and her party.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a public meeting here recently, had said ‘khela khatam, vikas shuru’ (game ends, development begins).

    “Election can never be equated with a game. There is an element of threat hidden in the slogan,” BJP spokesman Shamik Bhattacharya said.

    BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, however, does not mind borrowing the slogan from the TMC to give the opponents a befitting reply.

    “Let the game begin. People of the state will vote for the BJP and give a befitting reply to TMC for its misrule. Paribartan (change) will happen very soon,” Ghosh said.

    The jingle penned by Debanshu says, “Baire theke bargi ashe/Niyom kore proti mashe/Amio achi, tumio robe/Bondhu ebar khela hobe! (Looters from outside are visiting the state every month, but we are ready to face them. The game is on).

  • Not to indulge in politics over CM’s injuries, want probe: BJP on visiting Mamata at hospital

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was admitted to a facility here after receiving injuries during her Nandigram visit, the Bengal BJP said the party will not indulge in any politics over her injuries but will demand a comprehensive probe into the incident since she had alleged conspiracy behind it.

    Noting that the fight with the TMC is a political one and on ideological and development issues, BJP spokesman Samik Bhattacharya wished her a speedy recovery and said, the party hoped for her return to the electoral arena as soon as possible.

    “We will not do any kind of politics over the chief minister’s injuries. We pray for her early recovery and return to the political stage,” he told a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.

    According to information received by the BJP state leadership from local party workers and eyewitnesses, it was an accident, but a high-level inquiry is necessary when the chief minister herself has claimed that it was a conspiracy, he said.

    Soon after the incident at Birulia bazar in Nandigram on Wednesday evening, the TMC supremo had claimed that it was an “attack”.

    Banerjee, who filed her nomination papers for Nandigram assembly constituency before the incident, had alleged that she was attacked by four or five people who pushed her, besides banging on her the door of the vehicle, injuring her left leg, waist, shoulder and neck as she fell on the ground.

    She was rushed back to the city and was admitted to state-run SSKM hospital in south Kolkata, less than a couple of kilometres away from her residence.

    “We demand a comprehensive investigation into the incident since the chief minister has claimed that it is a conspiracy and not a mere accident,” he said.

    The BJP spokesman and party leader Tathagata Roy, a former governor of Tripura and Meghalaya, went to the hospital on Thursday morning to visit the chief minister.

    He said, they chose not to react after TMC supporters raised “go back, BJP hai hai” slogans when they went to the hospital.

    “They may have done it out of temporary excitement, but such behaviour is not welcome inside hospital premises when a political worker goes to meet the chief minister of the state to wish her speedy recovery,” Bhattacharya said.

    He said they were told by the hospital authorities that visitors were not being allowed to meet her since she was undergoing treatment in her cabin.

    “We conveyed our concern to the TMC leaders present, including minister Arup Biswas, and wished the chief minister a speedy recovery,” Bhattacharya said.

    He said, the chief minister avails Z-plus security and there are at least 12 vehicles in her convoy.

    Banerjee had said that there were neither any police personnel nor the Purba Medinipur police superintendent present near her.

    Bhattacharya said, if the chief minister faces such a situation despite having a three-layered security, then there is need for a comprehensive inquiry and fixing of responsibility for any lapse.

    The BJP leader questioned how could anyone reach near a leader of Banerjee’s stature breaking the security cover, when the director and additional director, security, were present.

  • ‘Attack’ on Mamata: EC asks Bengal administration to be more cautious about security for VVIPs

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: In the wake of the Nandigram incident in which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was hurt, the Election Commission has asked the state administration to be more cautious while planning for security arrangements for high-profile VVIPs when they campaign for the coming assembly election, an EC official said.

    The state chief election officer Ariz Aftab along with ADG (Law and Order) and state nodal officer Jagmohan held virtual meetings with district magistrates in the state and asked to adopt strict security measures.

    “The EC has said security arrangements must be made in a very cautious manner. We cannot be casual when it involves important high-profile VVIPs like the prime minister and the chief ministers. All DMs and the police administration have to be very alert when such figures come to the state to campaign for the coming elections,” the official said.

    Chief minister Mamata Banerjee was hurt while campaigning at Nandigram on Wednesday evening hours after she filed her nomination to contest from the seat in East Midnapore district, where she will take on her one time protege and now BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.

    She is now admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital here.

    Following the incident, the EC secretariat has sought reports from chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, special observer Ajay Nayak and special police observer Vivek Dubey by Friday 5pm.

    Two EC special observers are likely to visit Purba Medinipur district on Friday in connection with the incident and hold meetings with senior officials in the district, sources in the CEO office said.

    The eight-phased election to the 294 seats in West Bengal will be held between March 27 and April 29.

    The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

    Several important leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of several states have been visiting the state for campaigning.

    Modi and Shah will be visiting West Bengal several more times for campaigning, BJP sources said.

  • ‘Attack’ on Mamata: Wounded Didi a bigger threat for rivals, feel aides

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  The injury suffered by Mamata Banerjee, known as a street-fighter who was a firebrand opposition leader during Left Front regime, may have an impact on the Assembly polls. 

    Mamata rarely misses an opportunity to recall her movements during the Left regime and mention how she was beaten up by CPI(M) cadres on several occasions.

    Her announcement to return to political activities on a wheelchair  is likely to rekindle that ‘fighter’ image again.

    “Although in the video she did not hold anyone responsible, her appearance in a campaign rally on a wheelchair with one leg in a cast will deliver a different narrative. It will portray her determination to resist the rise of a communal force,” said a senior TMC leader. TMC leaders feel the sight of a wounded Mamata attending election rallies will send a message.

    “Voters not committed to a particular political party will welcome her presence in public rallies will be moved by what they see. This is likely to help us bag electoral dividends,’’ said the TMC leader.

    Mamata has a tight schedule, with rallies lined up in the Junglemahal region from Saturday. This area goes to polls in the first phase on March 27. Sources said that Mamata is keen to follow the same schedule with her fractured leg.

    Willingly or unwillingly, Mamata in her opposition days generally gained from her appearances in public when she was not well. On one hand, it gave the impression that here was a leader unafraid of the unlawful ways embraced by her rivals.

    ALSO READ | ‘Insinuations’: EC responds to Mamata Banerjee’s allegation of attack in Nandigram

    On the other, the public also got an impression that here was a true leader, who thinks more about larger goals than herself. Sources in TMC said the party supremo knows she is the only face of the party. Individual candidates matter little in the TMC’s scheme of politics.

    “This is why she keeps urging electorates to vote for our candidates considering her as the contestant in all 294 constituencies. We are waiting for the people’s roaring welcome when she, for the first time, appears on the stage on a wheelchair with a plastered foot,’’ said another TMC leader, who didn’t want to go on record.

    Meanwhile, reports of the tests conducted on the 66-year-old Trinamool Congress supremo were satisfactory and she is responding to treatment.

    “But the X-Ray done on her left leg showed a degenerative joint disease. We are treating that,” a senior doctor at the state-run SSKM Hospital said.

    Degenerative joint disease is a type of arthritis that occurs when flexible tissue at the ends of bones wears down.

    ALSO READ | Mamata distances herself from conspiracy charges, says leg crushed by crowd

    Banerjee has severe bony injuries in her left ankle and foot, besides injuries in her right shoulder, forearm and neck, the doctor said.

    X-Ray was also done on her shoulders, injured ankle and legs.

    Doctors also did a CT scan on her neck while a USG was performed on her abdomen.

    She also has low sodium concentration in the blood and was given medication to cure it.

    “The swelling on her left ankle has subsided. Overall her condition has improved slightly,” he said adding that the CM was given light food.

    Asked when Banerjee could be discharged from the hospital, he said that the team of six doctors treating her would assess her health condition on Friday morning and make a decision.

    Sources in the hospital said that doctors are planning to conduct another series of medical tests on Friday morning.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Mamata distances herself from conspiracy charges, says leg crushed by crowd

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday distanced herself from the allegation of ‘attack and conspiracy’ leading to injuries on her leg in Nandigram.

    In a video message on Thursday from SSKM Hospital on Thursday, the TMC chief said she was on the footboard of her vehicle and got sandwiched between the door and the front seat due to the pushing by the crowd.

    Without holding any political party responsible for the incident, she urged her supporters to maintain restraint. Mamata, who is suffering from cracks on her left foot and ankle, said she would be back in political activities within two to three days by using a wheelchair.

    “It is a fact that I was badly hurt. I received injuries on my leg, elbow, and shoulder. There were bone and ligament injuries. I suffered chest pain. I was greeting people from the car footboard and the crowd moved forward. The entire pressure was on me and I got sandwiched in the car. I was given medicine that was with me and taken to Kolkata,” she said in her video message.

    The Z-plus protectee further said, “Do not get involved in activities that will cause inconvenience to common people. My leg injury will remain a problem but I will not let it affect my meetings and political activities. I will have to move around in a wheelchair and for that, I need your support.”

    The incident took place hours after Mamata filed nomination for one of her toughest election contests in Nandigram where her former aide and BJP’s star campaigner Suvendu Adhikari is her competitor.

    ALSO READ | ‘Drama won’t yield results this time’: BJP demands CBI probe into ‘attack’ on Mamata

    Preliminary investigation by the police, too, revealed the incident was an accident, not an attack. Senior police officials visited the spot and recorded statements of the eyewitnesses who were present there when Mamata’s car stopped to greet the crowd standing beside the road.

    Sources in the TMC said the CM’s initial reaction describing the incident as a conspiracy and attack on her might be a statement that she had made in a fit of rage. “She might have later realised that the conspiracy allegation could hurt her own supporters who wanted to have a glimpse of the Chief Minister,” said a leader of the ruling party.

    Mamata’s Medical examination at the hospital revealed cracks on her feet and ankle and injuries on her elbow and shoulder. She complained of chest pain and headache but ECG and MRI report found no injury. She also underwent a CT scan on Thursday. The doctors treating the CM advised her to rest for 10 days.

    Mamata’s appeal to her supporters for maintaining restraint was in the backdrop of state-wide protests by blocking roads and tagging demonstrations.

    Shortly before Mamata issued the video message, the TMC alleged the Chief Minister was under threat due to abrupt removal of the Director-General of Police (DGP) two days ago. In a letter to the Election Commission, the TMC alleged the removal of the state DGP at the ‘behest of BJP’ had put the Chief Minister under threat.

    BJP’s Bengal chapter, however, decided not to add any political colour over the issue of Mamata’s initial reaction describing the incident a result of conspiracy. Former state BJP president Tathagata Roy, MP Locket Chatterjee and party’s spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya went to the hospital to visit Mamata, but they were not allowed by the doctors.

    “We wish the Chief Minister a speedy recovery. We have come here on humanitarian grounds. We don’t want to make any political statement here,” said Locket.

  • Mamata Banerjee stable; senior officials visit area where Bengal CM was allegedly attacked

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is undergoing treatment at a state-run hospital here following the alleged attack on her in Nandigram is “stable” now, and doctors are planning to conduct a series of medical tests, including a CT scan, to assess the degree of her injury, sources at the facility said on Thursday.

    Preliminary medical tests conducted on Banerjee late on Wednesday night detected severe bone injuries in her left ankle and foot, and injuries in her right shoulder, forearm and neck, they said.

    “A temporary plaster was done on her left ankle and she will undergo several blood tests this morning. Her ECG report was fine.”

    “Banerjee is stable now. She will be under observation for the next 48 hours. A CT scan may be conducted during the day. We will again examine her and decide on our next course of treatment. Her fever subsided,” a doctor of the SSKM Hospital told PTI.

    The state government constituted a nine-member team to treat Banerjee, and doctors conducted an x-ray on the chief minister as soon as she was taken to the hospital from Nandigram on Wednesday evening.

    Banerjee sustained injuries on her left leg and waist as she fell on the ground after she was allegedly pushed by unknown miscreants while campaigning for assembly elections in Nandigram.

    She is undergoing treatment at the 12.5 special cabin of Woodburn Block of the SSKM Hospital.

    The TMC supremo had on Wednesday filed her nomination to contest the ensuing assembly elections from Nandigram seat.

    Meanwhile, Senior district officials on Thursday morning visited the area where Banerjee was allegedly attacked.

    Purba Medinipur District Magistrate Vibhu Goel, Superintendent of Police Praween Prakash and other officers visited the Birulia Bazar area to inquire about the incident, officials said.

    The officers spoke to eye-witnesses, besides looking for any CCTV installed in the area to ascertain the exact sequence of events, they said.

    “We are talking to people who were present here during the incident. We have not got hold of any clear footage of that moment till now,” the district magistrate said.

    ALSO READ | Delhi CM Kejriwal condemns ‘attack’ on Mamata, says those responsible must be arrested

    “Multiple people are giving multiple versions of the incident. We are trying to listen to those who were present at that moment, and then file our report to the Election Commission,” he added.

    The district administration may file a report to Election Commission by the second half of the day, sources said.

    “We are also looking for anyone who has managed to record the incident on his or her mobile phone at that time,” a senior police officer said.

    Trinamool Congress and BJP supporters got engaged in a war of words over the attack on Banerjee as the officials were visiting the Birulia Bazar area.

    The TMC supporters alleged that the “attack was a pre-planned conspiracy”, while the BJP workers termed it a lie.

    Banerjee alleged on Wednesday evening that she was attacked by four-five men who pushed her, besides banging on her the door of her car, injuring her left leg, waist, shoulder and neck as she fell on the ground.

    Soon after the alleged incident, the Election Commission sought a report on the matter from Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay.

    ALSO READ | ‘Attack’ on Mamata: Theatrics for public sympathy, says Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

    “This is a serious matter which needed to be investigated. We are constantly keeping a tab on the situation. We have sought a report from the state police and administration. The report must be sent quickly,” a senior official at the CEO said.

    A preliminary report was sent to the EC, New Delhi on Wednesday night, he said.

    No official complaint was lodged by the chief minister till Thursday morning, sources said.

    The chief minister at present is undergoing treatment at the city-based state-run SSKM hospital.

  • ‘Attack’ on Mamata: Trinamool defers its manifesto release, to approach Election Commission

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress has deferred its manifesto release scheduled for today following an alleged attack on party chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

    The Chief Minister, who was on a two-day visit to Nandigram from where she filed her nomination earlier on Wednesday, alleged that she was pushed by a few unidentified people during her election campaigning.

    She was brought to Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital by road from Nandigram.

    leader Partha Chatterjee has said that the party will raise the incident of the attack over West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee with the Election Commission on Thursday.

    “Those who are cowards have been constantly trying to stop Mamata, but no one could stop her, today’s incident shows that the attack on Mamta Banerjee was a conspiracy, first the state’s Additional Director General of Police (ADG) law and order was changed, after that the state Director General of Police was removed, now this incident happened,” Chatterjee told reporters outside the hospital where Mamata Banerjee has been admitted.

    “We (TMC party leaders) have decided that tomorrow we will go to the Election Commission and keep this matter in front of the constitutional authority,” he added.

    ALSO READ | ‘Attack’ on Mamata: Theatrics for public sympathy, says Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

    Banerjee was brought to Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital by road from Nandigram, where she was campaigning for the upcoming Assembly polls in the state. She was wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher.

    The chief minister, who was on a two-day visit to Nandigram from where she filed her nomination earlier on Wednesday alleged that she was pushed by a few unidentified people during her election campaigning yesterday.

    She sustained “severe bony injuries” on her left foot and ankle as well as bruises and injuries on her shoulder, forearm and neck, according to the report of her initial medical examination.

    West Bengal is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and the BJP in the fray.

    Elections to 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

    While Mamata Banerjee is seeking her third consecutive term, BJP has set a target of winning 200 seats in the 294-member state Assembly. Congress and the Left have stitched the alliance for the polls and had already finalised the seat-sharing agreement. They are also in touch with the Indian Secular Front (ISF), recently floated by influential minority leader Abbas Siddique.

    ALSO READ | Delhi CM Kejriwal condemns ‘attack’ on Mamata, says those responsible must be arrested

    In 2016, West Bengal Assembly elections, out of the 294 seats, Congress had managed to win 44 seats while the Left Front bagged 33 seats. The ruling TMC secured 211 seats and the BJP had won 3 seats.

    The BJP made deep inroads in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats and decimating TMC’s tally to 22. Out of the total 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, Congress won two seats, the Left drew a blank.

    After BJP’s performance in the 2019 polls, several TMC leaders have joined the party.

  • Mamata has severe injuries to her ankle, right shoulder, neck, confirms doctor

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Preliminary medical tests conducted on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee late on Wednesday night detected severe bone injuries in her left ankle and foot, and injuries in right shoulder, forearm and neck, a senior doctor of the state-run SSKM hospital said.

    Doctors at the hospital decided to closely monitor Banerjee, who has been complaining of chest pain and breathlessness since the alleged attack at Nandigram in Purba Medinipore district earlier in the evening, for the next 48 hours, he said.

    The Trinamool Congress chief has slight fever and has been shifted to aspecial ward at the hospital’s VVIP Woodburn Block soon after the MRI at the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, he added.

    “We will keep her under observation for the next 48 hours. There will be more tests needed to be done, and after evaluating her condition we will decide on our next course of treatment,” a doctor, part of the team treating Banerjee, told PTI.

    Doctors conducted x-ray on the chief minister as soon as she was taken there from Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district on Wednesday night.

    She is undergoing treatment at the 12.5 special cabin of Woodburn Block of the SSKM hospital.

    The state government has constituted a team of five senior doctors to treat Banerjee.

    The team consists of one cardiologist, an endocrinologist, a general surgery doctor, an orthopedist and a medicine doctor.

    ALSO READ | ‘Attack’ on Mamata: Theatrics for public sympathy, says Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

    Banerjee sustained injuries on her left leg and waist as she fell on the ground after she was allegedly pushed by unknown miscreants while campaigning for assembly elections in Nandigram.

    Earlier, Banerjee had filed her nomination to contest the ensuing assembly elections from Nandigram seat.

    Meanwhile, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar visited Mamata and sought a report from the administration on the incident.

    Dhankhar spoke to Banerjee over the phone shortly after the incident and later visited her at the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, where she was admitted.

    A highly-placed source told PTI that the governor was in the chief minister’s cabin for around half an hour and she briefed Dhankhar about the incident.

    Senior Trinamool Congress leaders Abhishek Banerjee, Firhad Hakim and Derek O’Brien were outside the cabin during the one-on-one discussion, the source said.

    “Sought an update from Director, Security and Chief Secretary in matter. Health Secretary and Director of Hospital urged to take all caution,” Dhankhar tweeted.

    Banerjee has alleged that no local police personnel were near her when four-five men deliberately pushed her causing the injury.

    ALSO READ | Delhi CM Kejriwal condemns ‘attack’ on Mamata, says those responsible must be arrested

    In the tweet, the governor said that he had spoken to her at 6.40 pm soon after the incident was reported, while she was still at Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district.

    Dhankhar, who has been at loggerheads with the West Bengal government over several issues, was greeted with “go back” slogans by Trinamool Congress supporters when he entered the hospital.

    He faced a similar situation when he left the hospital after more than half an hour, by which time the number of TMC supporters had multiplied at the premises.

    Banerjee submitted her nomination papers for Nandigram earlier in the day.