Opinion | Mamata’s injury: ‘Attack’ on her or political ‘drama’
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is presently undergoing treatment in Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital, after she suffered injuries to her left leg and ankle and her shoulder, while campaigning in Nandigram on Wednesday. According to doctors, “presently she is traumatized. She has a severe injury in her left heel and ankle bone area. There are minor soft tissue and ligament injuries. There are also injuries on her right shoulder and right forearm as well.”
Presently, the chief minister is under medical observation for 48 hours and has undergone several tests. While the circumstances relating to the incident are not clear, Mamata herself told reporters soon after the incident that four or five people among the crowd that was present to greet her, suddenly tried to shut the door of her vehicle because of which she fell and suffered injuries. She said, her left leg was swollen and she was feeling feverish. Security personnel accompanying in other vehicles rushed to the spot, put icepacks on her leg, and she was whisked away in a convoy to Kolkata. A ‘green corridor’ was created for the CM to reach the hospital.
The incident hours after Mamata filed her nomination from Nandigram and made visits to several temples. Visuals of Mamata writhing in pain and speaking to reporters in a traumatic condition, surely brought sadness in the minds of people keenly watching her election campaign. Since it is election time, Mamata’s allegation is sensational because she alleged it was a “saazish” (conspiracy) and that there were only four or five people who pushed her from among the crowd. The incident occurred in Birulia Bazar in Nandigram.
Let us pray to God that she recovers at the earliest. I know Mamata is a fighter, she will recover early and take the electoral fight to the next level soon. All of a sudden, Mamata’s injury has become the hottest topic in the Bengal elections, with the BJP and the Congress alleging that this was only a “political drama”. One of the leaders said that Mamata always moved around with 300 security personnel, and it was hard to imagine four or five persons pouncing on her. Another leader alleged that this was Mamata’s style of garnering sympathy from the people.
I think local leaders of the BJP and Congress were in a hurry while reacting and they jumped to conclusions without first ascertaining facts. They could have at least waited for the medical report and, of course, the report from security personnel. One reason could be that they ae worried Mamata could gain sympathy from the voters of Bengal after this incident.
Politics makes people cruel. This was seen in Bengal, when millions of viewers saw the chief minister groaning in pain and speaking to reporters with difficulty. She is in hospital, undergoing treatment, and yet, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and BJP MP Arjun Singh described this incident as ‘political drama’.
These leaders should realize that Mamata has a long history of being attacked and beaten up during the Left Front rule, and the people of Bengal will never take such remarks lightly. Even at that time, people used to describe Mamata with her bandaged head as ‘drama’. The results are there for all to see. Politicians should be careful and circumspect before making such off-the-cuff remarks when a leader is injured.
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