Mamata Banerjee not attacked in Nandigram, got hurt from car door, claim eyewitnesses

Two men who reportedly witnessed West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee get injured while campaigning in Nandigram have dismissed her claim that she was attacked.

India Today, New Delhi, March 10, 2021: Mamata Banerjee not attacked in Nandigram, got hurt from car door, claim eyewitnesses

Mamata Banerjee has been taken to the state-run SSKM Hospital for treatment. (Photo: PTI)

Hours after a political row started brewing in West Bengal over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee being injured while campaigning in Nandigram, two eyewitnesses have now come forward to share what happened.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Wednesday that she was attacked by "four-five men" who manhandled her during the election campaign in Nandigram, because of which she was injured in the left leg.

The incident happened around 6.15 pm when Mamata Banerjee was about to leave the Birulia area near Reyapara after praying at a local temple.

She alleged that she was pushed by four-five men while she was trying to get into the car, following which she fell flat on her face.

#WestBengalElections | @MamataOfficial injured while campaigning in Nandigram. She alleged she was “pushed” by someone and has claimed that there was a “conspiracy” against her.#MamataBanerjee #Nandigram #Campaign #Attack pic.twitter.com/gEYVdoVYAI

— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) March 10, 2021

Reporting the incident, news agency ANI quoted two men who claimed to witness the entire sequence of events. They asserted that Mamata Banerjee was not pushed or attacked but simply got injured in an accident.

A student Suman Maity told news agency ANI, "A crowd had gathered to see the CM. When she was leaving, she fell down and got injured on her neck and leg. She was not pushed, people were only gathering to see her. The car was moving quite slowly."

#WATCH Eyewitness, a student gives an account of incident that happened in Nandigram which CM Banerjee says was an attack on her

Eyewitness Suman Maity: "When CM came here,public gathered around her,at the time she got hurt in her neck& leg, not pushed,car was moving slowly" pic.twitter.com/Xoe0Nct87p

— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2021

Another eyewitness Chitranjan Das told ANI, "I saw what happened. Mamata Banerjee came back from visiting temples and she was sitting in her car with the door open. There was a hoarding in front of the car which fell down on the door and hit Mamata Banerjee on her neck and knee. She was not hit or pushed."

#WATCH Eyewitness Chitranjan Das who was present at Nandigram's Birulia where WB CM suffered injury says, "I was there, she (CM) was sitting inside her car but the door was open. The door closed after it touched a poster. Nobody pushed or hit...there was no one near the door." pic.twitter.com/2OeVHC0Vmy

— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2021

The statements come after the TMC leadership claimed that the attack was a well-planned conspiracy to "remove her" from the poll campaign.

The BJP and the Congress, however, alleged that Mamata Banerjee was trying to turn a "simple accident" into a "pre-planned conspiracy".

"It can happen that she met with an accident but to claim that she was deliberately pushed is not acceptable. She has a lot of security personnel guarding her round the clock," BJP's national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said.

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said such "tactics to gain sympathy" would not work this time.

"Mamata Banerjee is the police minister of the state and if she is not safe then she should immediately resign from the post," he said.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee was taken to the state-run SSKM Hospital for treatment.

#WATCH West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee brought to SSKM Hospital, Kolkata pic.twitter.com/8KVoBOPkHj 

 — ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2021 

The state government constituted a team of five senior doctors to treat Mamata Banerjee, Health Department sources said. 

In the team were a cardiologist, an endocrinologist, a general surgery doctor, an orthopedist and a medicine doctor. 

Mamata Banerjee was in Nandigram over the last two days to campaign for the upcoming elections. 

Earlier in the day, she filed her nominations in Haldia. 

She is pitted from the seat against her former aide Suvendu Adhikari, who switched over to the BJP a few months back.