Mamata Banerjee Injury: Bengal CM’s Health Stable, Doctors Keep Close Watch

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's health condition is "stable", a senior official of the state administration said on Friday.

Banerjee, 69, who suffered a major injury on her forehead and nose during a fall inside her Kalighat residence in South Kolkata on Thursday evening, also "slept well", he said.

"The CM's health condition is stable. She had a good sleep in the night as senior doctors kept a close watch on her throughout the period. This morning there will be another assessment of her condition," the official told PTI on Friday morning.

The Bengal CM underwent three stitches on her forehead and one on her nose and was discharged following necessary medical tests at the hospital.

"She had a cerebral concussion and had a sharp cut on her forehead and nose which was bleeding profusely. Initially, she was assessed by senior doctors of the neurosurgery, medicine, and cardiology departments of our institute and her vitals were stabilised. Three stitches were applied on her forehead, and one on her nose and the required dressing was done. Investigations like ECG, echocardiogram, CT-Scan, and Doppler were done," SSKM hospital director Manimoy Bandyopadhyay said.

Meanwhile, police are yet to lodge a complaint in connection with the fall of the chief minister though they have upped the security arrangements in and around Banerjee's residence in the Kalighat area, an officer said.

Referring to SSKM Hospital's bulletin that the CM had a fall "due to some push", the police officer, however, declined to comment on whether they were planning to record the CM's statement or lodge any suo moto complaint in this regard.

"As of now, there has been no complaint lodged in connection with the fall of the CM. We have increased the security around the CM's residence," he told PTI, adding that they were looking whether there was any security lapse or not.

Banerjee gets a "Z+ category" cover and has a special team of officers looking after her security and even at her residence.

BJP demands probe into doctor's claim that CM was ‘pushed’

Commenting on the incident, senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said that a probe was necessary to bring out the truth of the matter. "The SSKM super last night said the chief minister was pushed from behind. This morning he is saying something different. We think there should be a proper probe into what has happened to the CM and how she fell. It is the right of every citizen of Bengal to know what had happened," he said.

On Thursday, SSKM hospital director Manimoy Bandyopadhyay claimed that Banerjee had a fall in her Kalighat residence due to “some push from behind.” Later, on Friday, he clarified that what he had meant to say was that the CM may have felt “a sensation of push”. 

TMC leader Shashi Panja commented on the demand for a probe, stating that the matter should not be politicised. "When you feel unwell at times you tend to fall and have this feeling that someone has pushed you. It is very normal in medical science. The doctor later clarified what he meant and we all have seen the pictures of the chief minister bleeding, so we would request not to politicise the matter," she said.

With inputs from PTI.