Surgery successful: Hospital - Mesh under Abhishek eye

TT, Calcutta, Oct. 25: Trinamul MP Abhishek Banerjee underwent a successful surgery to repair a bone fracture under his left eye that he had suffered in a car crash near Singur on October 18.

A 12-member team of doctors performed the surgery from 12.30pm to 4pm at Belle Vue Clinic.

"There was neither any cardiac nor any neuro problems and both blood pressure and pulse were maintained throughout," a medical bulletin released by the hospital in the evening said.

In keeping with protocol, Abhishek, the nephew of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, will be kept under observation for the next seven days for post-operative care, which will include pain relief and infection control.

Belle Vue officials said no visitors would be allowed for at least 72 hours.

The Diamond Harbour MP had suffered an orbital floor fracture and received 19-20 stitches beneath his left eye. The orbital floor is a bone below the eye.

According to the officials, the surgery took place in two phases. First, the fractured portion of the orbital floor was repaired and after that a plastic surgery was performed to stitch facial skin wherever necessary. A titanium mesh has been inserted to repair the fracture, a hospital official said.

"Tomorrow, we are expecting him to have soft and liquid diet," said Pradip Tondon, the CEO of Belle Vue.

"As per the senior physician, Prof. Dr. Sukumar Mukherjee, the surgery was extremely difficult, requiring specialised skill looking into the injury. However, it was uneventful and went very well throughout," the bulletin said.

TT, Calcutta, Oct. 25: Belle Vue Clinic wore the look of the Trinamul headquarters today with most ministers thronging the hospital and around 1,000 party supporters waiting outside since morning as a surgery was performed on Abhishek Banerjee.

The surgery on chief minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew began at 12.30pm and continued for three-and-a-half-hours.

Till the medical bulletin was issued around 6.15pm stating that the surgery was successful, the junior leaders and supporters of the party and its frontal organisations spent anxious hours outside the Loudon Street hospital, occasionally taking tea-and-biscuit breaks.

"We are happy to know he will be fine. We had hoped he would be released soon. Anyway, the success of the surgery is a big relief," said Farida Parveen, a private tutor in her early thirties who is a Trinamul Mahila Congress worker in Metiabruz.

Trinamul supporters stand beside a cut-out of Abhishek outside
Belle Vue Clinic on Tuesday. (Pradip Sanyal)

Usually, a large number of Trinamul workers flock to Trinamul Bhavan in Kasba, where Abhishek goes in the evenings, or Mamata's Kalighat home. Today, they stood outside Belle Vue, where the Trinamul MP and youth wing chief is admitted since the accident on Durgapur Expressway on October 18.

"Abhishek's health is of paramount importance, not only to us in Bengal but also to leaders from across the country. We were all anxiously awaiting updates," a minister said.

According to him, post-surgery updates had been sent in the form of text messages, emails and calls to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Trinamul sources said Abhishek's "friends" in regional parties such as the JDS, JDU, RJD, BJD, TDP, TRS, Samajwadi Party, BSP, AIADMK and the National Conference had also been informed about the leader's health situation after the surgery.

Since morning, the pavements on either side of Loudon Street had been teeming with local leaders and workers of Trinamul. The VIPs waited inside the hospital, most of them in the boardroom.

"The surgery was successful. It was very critical. It went on for at least half an hour more than expected," Amit Banerjee, Abhishek's father, told his wife Lata and senior leaders of the party in the boardroom around 4.15pm. Amit was the only person who had been allowed to wait near the operation theatre during the surgery.

According to Amit, nobody but Abhishek's wife Jasmeet would be allowed to visit him in the next three days.

Senior leaders and ministers such as Aroop Biswas, Bratya Basu, Rajib Banerjee, Indranil Sen, Jyotipriya Mullick, Tapan Dasgupta and Sashi Panja called up others after the surgery. The first call was made to the chief minister, who was on her way to Belle Vue from Nabanna.

A source said Mamata instructed Biswas to ensure that all party colleagues in the hospital vacated the premises by 4.45pm so that well-wishers of the other patients were not inconvenienced during the visiting hours between 5pm and 7pm.

After 4.45pm, not even VIPs were allowed to go upstairs. Only Mamata, with some security personnel and aides, remained inside.