A video of Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Nandigram on Wednesday offers some clarity on what happened moments before she suffered foot injuries. The injury has become a topic of great political debate, as the BJP and the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress blame each other. The ruling party has accused the BJP of manipulating the incident. The BJP has ignored the accusations, accusing the Chief Minister of staging a “drama” of votes of sympathy in a losing battle.
The video shows Ms. Banerjee standing on the running board of her SUV as she crawls forward, a common practice of political leaders. The front passenger door, where she is standing, is ajar. Ms. Banerjee has an arm around the window frame in a ‘namaskar’. Suddenly, when the crowd pushes forward, she steps back and the door slammed shut.
Ms. Banerjee, whose foot was seriously injured, had to run back. Before leaving for Calcutta, he had told reporters that four or five strangers pushed the door against his car and the door was closed.
When asked if it was a planned attack, he said: “Of course it is a conspiracy … it was intentional. There were no local police around me.”
This morning, speaking from his hospital bed, he did not refer to any attack or conspiracy. “It is true that yesterday I was injured very badly and that I have a foot injury, a bone and ligament injury and had pain in my head and chest as a result of the injury,” he said.
“I was waving to people from the hood of the car and there was a lot of pressure … and the car crushed my foot,” said the 66-year-old who is undergoing a series of tests at the hospital.
The Trinamool Congress has accused the BJP and the Electoral Commission of having a role in the matter. The party said that an attempt was made on the life of the Chief Minister “within 24 hours after the removal of the Bengal police chief” by the Election Commission without consulting the state government.
The Commission responded today, saying in a strong letter that the Trinamool memorandum questioned the “very basis of the formation and functioning of the Electoral Commission.” The survey panel said it was “completely wrong” to suggest that he had taken over the law and order machinery in the state in the name of holding elections.
“It seems unworthy to even respond to allegations that all of this was done at the behest of one particular political party,” his letter read.
The Commission and the government have ordered separate investigations into the incident. The Commission has requested a report before Friday.
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