West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that despite being badly hurt in the alleged attack on her on Wednesday in Nandigram, she would not waste a single day of campaigning and will campaign on a wheelchair if need be. The feisty Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, in a video message from the hospital bed, also urged her party workers and supporters to remain calm and peaceful and not do anything which will cause problems for others.
She alleged that she was greeting people standing near the bonnet of the car when suddenly she felt a strong shove and her feet were pressed against the car resulting in injuries. “I took whatever medicines I had and returned to Kolkata. Since then I am under treatment,” said Mamata.
Earlier, she alleged that she was attacked by four to five people in Nandigram who pushed her against the car. “I want to urge everyone especially our workers to be calm. It is true that I was badly hurt yesterday. I have sustained bone and ligament injuries on my hands and feet. I also felt pain in my chest and head after the incident,” Mamata said in the video message.
“I will not let this incident affect any of my programmes and will be back on field in the next few days. Perhaps I will have to be on a wheelchair for a couple of days but I will do it with your cooperation,” said Mamata. She was speaking from her hospital bed at special cabin number 12.5 at the Woodburn Bloc of the Government-run SSKM hospital.
Sources in the SSKM Hospital said that the Chief Minister sustained bone injuries on her left foot and ankle as well as on her right shoulder, neck and forearm.
“The medical board set up for her treatment examined her in the afternoon and it was decided that further radiological investigation will be conducted to trace any pathology arising from post-traumatic syndrome,” said a senior doctor of SSKM Hospital.
Following the alleged attack on Mamata, TMC workers staged road blockades across the State in places such as Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Jalpaiguri, West Bardhaman and West Medinipur.