West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in a video message from hospital, on Thursday urged her supporters and party members to maintain peace and restraint.
“Keep calm, maintain peace and please do not do anything that causes inconvenience to the public,” Banerjee said in the video, tweeted by the Trinamool Congress. “I am hoping to get back on field in two-three days. I might face some difficulties with my leg but I will manage...I won’t let it hamper my meetings. I might have to use a wheelchair for a few days.”
Banerjee was injured on Wednesday while campaigning in Nandigram for the upcoming Assembly elections. Visuals showed her limping after the attack, with her bodyguards lifting her to her car, allegedly in the absence of police officers at the scene. The chief minister alleged that she was pushed by four to five people.
Doctors at Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital, where she was admitted on Wednesday evening, said that she sustained “severe bone injuries” in her left ankle and foot. She also had wounds on her right shoulder, forearm and neck, a senior doctor of the state-run hospital said.
In the video tweeted on Thursday, Banerjee reiterated that she was pushed against her car on Wednesday.
“It’s true that I was severely injured yesterday,” she said. “I have injuries in my bones and ligament and yesterday I suffered pain in my chest and head as well. I was greeting people while standing on the bonnet of my car, when I was pushed and my leg got crushed against the car. I took some medicine that I was carrying and was then brought to the hospital.”
Doctors have, however, said that Banerjee’s condition was stable and her fever had subsided by Thursday.
Meanwhile, delegations of both the TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party met Election Commission officials on Thursday. The BJP has submitted a memorandum seeking an investigation into the matter. The Trinamool Congress, on the other hand, filed a complaint on the incident and demanded a thorough inquiry. They also accused the Election Commission of acting “as per orders of BJP leaders” and alleged that they did nothing despite there being reports of “a possible attack” on Banerjee.
TMC workers protest across state
Trinamool Congress workers took out rallies across the state on Thursday to protest against the alleged attack on Banerjee in Nandigram, reported ABP Ananda. Protests were held in different parts of Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas and Jalpaiguri districts. They shouted slogans against the BJP, accusing it of conspiring against Banerjee.
In Nandigram, TMC members burnt tyres and staged a protest in the Birulia area. A scuffle broke out between the TMC and BJP workers but the situation was brought under control soon, the police told The Telegraph.
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