Two days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was discharged from the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata following injuries while campaigning in Nandigram, she held her first roadshow to Hazra in a wheelchair on Sunday, 14 March.
“I am hurt and unwell, but my goal remains (remaining steadfast to her cause and people of Bengal). My body is full of bruises. I will continue to roam around Bengal on this wheelchair. If I go on bed rest, who will reach out to the people of Bengal?" NDTV quoted her as saying.
“I have faced lot of attacks in life but never bowed my head,” she added, PTI mentioned. She further reportedly said “injured tiger gets more dangerous” on her injuries suffered during campaigning in Nandigram.
Ahead of the roadshow, she tweeted, “We will continue to fight boldly! I'm still in a lot of pain, but I feel the pain of my people even more.”
Mamata had filed her election papers in Nandigram on Wednesday, following which she was at a market greeting people. A video showed the TMC leader standing on the footboard of her SUV when the crowd pressed forward, which may have slammed the door into her leg and hips, causing her injuries.
Right after the incident, the CM had said, "Four or five people came in front of the car and pushed the door. This was done purposely." She added that no local police was present at the spot where the incident took place.
On Thursday, the doctor treating her had informed that she has suffered severe bone injuries on her ankle and shoulder. She was also running a slight fever and the doctor said that she will be kept under observation for 48 hours.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Trinamool Congress had written to the Election Commission alleging "a deep-rooted conspiracy” to take Banerjee’s life and linked it to the sudden dismissal of the Bengal police chief a day before, for which it had blamed the BJP.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday, 14 March, ruled out an attack on the TMC leader, citing that the decision was based on a report by state's observers and chief secretary. According to the report of two poll observers submitted before the EC, the incident in Bengal's Nandigram was an accident and not a planned attack.
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