Just a day after Mamata Banerjee alleged that she was injured after she was pushed by 4-5 people at Nandigram, she has retracted her allegation, as she gave a different version of the incident today. The West Bengal chief minister released a video message from her bed at the Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital located in the Lady Hardinge Medical College in Kolkata, appealing to her supporters to remain calm.
While yesterday she had alleged that she was pushed by some people when she was trying to get into her car, and they had slammed the door on her hitting her leg, today Mamata Banerjee changed her narrative. In the video message, she said that she was sitting on the bonnet of her car, greeting the people with folded hands. ‘When I was doing namaskar towards the crowd from the top of the bonnet, suddenly I felt a huge pressure/push, and my legs were crushed by the car’, the chief minister said.
From this statement, it is clear that Mamata Banerjee has retracting her allegation of conspiracy, and agreed that she was injured after she suffered an accident, and she was not attacked.
She further said that she was badly hurt, and she is still feeling pain on her hands and legs. The chief minister requested her followers to maintain peace, and urged them to not do anything that will cause inconvenience to the people. Mamata Banerjee added that she hopes to be back in the campaigning within 3-4 days. She added that problems with her legs may remain, but she will manage, and will use a wheelchair if needed.
Although the CM today changed her version from attack to accident, it still does not match with the eyewitness accounts. Several locals, who had witnessed the CM suffering the injury had said that she was greeting the crown from her seat by keeping the car door open, and keeping her legs out of the car. They said that the open door of the moving car had hit a short iron pillar on the side of the road, which had caused the door to close and hit the CM’s legs.
The accident theory also has been confirmed by a preliminary report submitted by the police with the election commission. Although a final report is awaited, based on preliminary enquiry, the police have said that the WB CM suffered injuries due to an accident, not an attack. Based on statements from local police and eyewitnesses, the police report said that Mamata Banerjee’s car had hit a small iron pillar, causing her to suffer injuries.
