Mamata Banerjee injured LIVE UPDATES: 'CM responding well' say docs; EC refutes TMC claims

Refuting Trinamool's allegations on the Central Election Commission (CEC), the election body on Thursday, pointed out that the EC has not 'taken over day-to-day governance of any state including Bengal'. Calling the attack 'unfortunate', EC said that the incident must be inquired into promptly. Trinamool has held EC  responsible for the lapse in security rather than West Bengal police after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee was allegedly attacked by '4-5 unknown persons' in Nandigram.

The EC clarified that DGP Virender was removed based on the recommendation its state observers and his removal could not be connected to the attack on Banerjee. Moreover, it stated that ADG (Law & order) was also changed based on special observers' recommendations. Condemning insinuations that the poll dates were decided on the behest of a particular party (read: BJP), EC stated it was not necessary to consult the state government on such transfers as they are temporary measures. Stating that the life and security of the CM was the responsibility of the law and order machinery of Bengal, the EC has stated that an FIR has been filed with the local authorities regarding the 'attack'.

Dr M Bandopadhya,IPGMER & SSKM Hospital said, " A 6-member medical team re-examined CM again. She's responding well to treatment, improvement of her general well evident. However she still has symptoms related to bony injuries of her left ankle for which she continues to receive treatment."

He added, "Her abdominal ultrasonography, x-ray of right forearm & right shoulder, CT scan of thorax within acceptable limits. Her left knee reveals some degree of degenerative changes on CT scan. Medical board will meet tomorrow at 11 am & decide further course of action."

In a controversial comparison, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Thursday, claimed that Mamata Banerjee wants to become Rakesh Tikait - the face of the ongoing farmers' protests against Centre's farm Laws. He added that Mamata allegedly wanted public sympathy by 'shedding tears'. Claiming that she was not 'seriously injured', he said that her injury 'need not be broadcast so widely'. While several BJP leaders have condemned politicisation of the attack on Bengal CM, some have alleged that Banerjee was doing a 'political stunt'.

"Mamata Banerjee wants to become Rakesh Tikait. She wants that by shedding tears, she can get public sympathies. But Mamata's work is done in Bengal. She is not that seriously injured that it needs to be broadcasted so widely," said Vij.

Lashing at the EC, Bengal Health Minister Partha Chatterjee said, "The EC is more responsible than the police (for the incident). We have visited the EC and requested them to investigate. We have decided that on Friday, tomorrow, we will unfurl black flags in every corner of the state from 3 pm to 5 pm - in every district, every block. It will be a silent protest."

Raising doubts on BJP, he added, "The BJP had said that something would happen after the 10th, and now see what has happened. We have our doubts. The EC should find out how this has happened. We have said that she needed security. Mamata will not alter her schedule."

UP DY CM Keshav Prasad Maurya says, " BJP doesn't believe in violence. This is a political stunt. If she thinks she has been attacked, govt is ready for any agency probe. Govt (Centre) has offered her z+ security. This is a failed attempt to gain sympathy."

Trinamool Parliamentary delegation to meet Election Commission in Delhi tomorrow (March 12) on Nandigram incident involving Mamata Banerjee. Six MPs from both Houses on their way to Delhi from Kolkata

On Wednesday, hours after filing her nomination from Nandigram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee abruptly left her on-ground campaign claiming that she was attacked and sustained a leg injury. CM Mamata Banerjee has alleged that she was attacked by 4-5 people while she was returning after performing a puja in a temple at Barulia Bazar in Nandigram, adding that no security official was present when she was attacked. She alleged that 4-5 people pushed her into her car and closed the door on her foot, leading to her injury. The Bengal CM arrived in a stretcher at SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, seeking medical attention. Top TMC leaders and Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar rushed to visit the injured CM. 

"Not even one Police official was present. 4-5 people intentionally manhandled me in presence of public. No local police present during program, not even SP. It was definitely a conspiracy. There were no police officials for 4-5 hrs in such huge public gathering," she said to the reporters after the attack.

West Bengal BJP in-charge Kailash Vijayawargiya condemned politicisation on the attack and prayed for Banerjee's safety. Calling for the suspension of her security in-charge, BJP leader Arjun Singh alleged that she was doing 'drama for sympathy', but later tweeted that a CBI inquiry should be done into the incident. Similarly, BJP IT chief Amit Malviya too cast aspersions on the attack questioning the police's action. While Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee condemned the attack, the party's Bengal in-charge Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called it a 'drama'.  The Election Commission has sought a report on the incident, while the Centre offered  Z+ security to her with security cover of a CRPF elite group.

As West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee undergoes treatment in Kolkata after an alleged attack, two persons claiming to be eye-witnesses from Nandigram have refuted Banerjee's claims. According to ANI, an eye-witness Chitranjan Das said that Banerjee was not pushed and that her car's door closed after being 'pushed by a poster'. Similarly, another eyewitness Suman Maity claimed that Banerjee was injured after the public gathered around her. 

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," said Chitranjan Das. Meanwhile, Suman Maity said, "When CM came here, public gathered around her. At the time she got hurt on her neck and leg, not pushed. Car was moving slowly".

Late Wednesday, after completing X-Ray of the West Bengal CM, SSKM doctors revealed that preliminary medical tests found severe bone injuries in her left ankle and foot, and injuries in the right shoulder, forearm and neck. Doctors at the hospital decided to closely monitor Banerjee, who has been complaining of chest pain and breathlessness since the alleged attack, for the next 48 hours. The Trinamool Congress chief has a slight fever and has been shifted to a special ward at the hospital's VVIP Woodburn Block soon after the MRI at the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences.

On Thursday, a delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) arrived at a state-run SSKM hospital in Kolkata to check on Mamata, but was denied entry.  Speaking to reporters outside the hospital, former Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy said he was keen to call on the CM but was denied permission as the doctors did not recommend it.

"We wanted to meet her (Mamata Banerjee) but couldn't because that was not medically advised. We met (Bengal Minister) Aroop Biswas and asked him to convey best wishes to her," said Tathagata Roy.

The visuals in the clip accessed by Republic Media Network shows that when the TMC supremo was campaigning on the road in Nandigram, the door of her car was wide open and there was a lot of crowd at the location. The video shows Mamata Banerjee's cavalcade blaring its horns as it tries to navigate packed and narrow streets. Amid the deafening sounds of the horns and the people, the CM can be seen standing precariously off the car's front passenger seat, her hands folded between the door and its frame even as the car is moving.

A security officer can be seen holding her and the door both. The video briefly pans out as the car passes by, and then heavy commotion ensues, with the incident likely taking place in between. When the camera next gets Mamata Banerjee in the frame, she is seen wincing in pain, having sat back in the passenger seat of the car, perhaps looking down at her leg.

Issuing the first statement after her attack, Mamat Banerjee said, "I have injuries on my chest, ankle, shoulder and neck. I appeal to everyone to not do anything due to which people will have to suffer. The doctors are taking care and I will be able to return to work within 2-3 days as I don't want to spoil my scheduled meeting. Even if I will have to move around in a wheelchair, I will not let my meeting be hampered with this."