The Trinamul Congress on Friday launched a full-scale political battle over the injury to Mamata Banerjee, listing before the Election Commission a series of events to back up the claim of conspiracy and forcing the BJP to literally follow in the footsteps of its rival in Bengal.
Hours before the Bengal chief minister was released in a wheelchair, a six-MP Trinamul delegation met the poll panel top brass at Nirvachan Sadan, calling the Nandigram incident of Wednesday evening “BJP’s conspiracy” and alleging it was “premeditated”.
In an eight-page memorandum, Trinamul quoted several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to suggest they had dropped dark hints presaging the injury to Mamata.
“An attempt was made on the life of our chairperson Ms. Mamata Banerjee… though the perpetrators failed in their vicious attempt,” read the memorandum from the delegation, led by Dum Dum MP and Trinamul vice-president Saugata Roy and the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien.
“The events/actions leading up to the attempt on her life leave no doubt that the attack was premeditated and part of a deep-rooted conspiracy…,” it added.
Among the instances the memorandum cited was a quote from the Prime Minister’s March 7 address at the Brigade Parade Grounds, where he had said: “Lekin jab scooty ney Nandigram mein girna taye kiya hai toh hum kya kare (If the scooter has decided to fall in Nandigram, what can we do)?”
The instances included a social media post by BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh, with a caricature of Mamata, depicting that “she would be hit” at Nandigram, the numerous complaints from the BJP seeking the immediate removal of Virendra as director-general of police (which the poll panel carried out a day before the Nandigram incident) and a social media response by BJP youth wing state chief Saumitra Khan tagging Trinamul minister Bratya Basu and stating: “Kal thekey bujhtey parbey. Bikel panchta’r por (You will come to know from tomorrow. After 5pm).”
The memorandum pointed out the district police chief and the local police were “suspiciously absent” after 5pm on March 10, ahead of the “attack” that took place at 6.15pm.
It alleged Chittaranjan Das and Debabrata Das, two of the witnesses who claimed it was an accident, not an attack, and were cited by a TV channel, are “associates” of Nandigram’s BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari.
“… there is a clear nexus between post by Dilip Ghosh on Facebook, multiple complaints by BJP seeking removal of DGP, the unilateral decision of the ECI to remove the erstwhile DGP, the plan revealed by Saumitra Khan on Twitter, BJP’s request to suspend/remove security personnel of Ms. Banerjee, the resultant attempt on the life of Ms. Banerjee and the cover up of the same by Adhikari,” wrote Trinamul in its memorandum.
On Thursday, the commission had taken exception to the party’s “insinuations and averments”, and that it found it “undignified” even to respond to the allegations of acting at the behest of the BJP.
Several seniors in Trinamul have been saying the wording of the commission’s letter made it look like it was “drafted by a political party”.
On Friday evening, Trinamul’s concerns regarding the poll panel found an echo in social activist Medha Patkar, who paid a visit to SSKM. Patkar, an ally of Mamata during her days in the Opposition, endorsed the Trinamul allegations and accused the commission of having been compromised in the saffron regime.
The BJP, apparently unsure of how the Nandigram incident might impact voter psyche, sent an eight-member delegation, led by its national general-secretary Bhupender Yadav and Union railway minister Piyush Goyal, to the commission in the evening.
“We requested the commission to conduct a thorough and impartial probe into the incident. We also requested a special observer to monitor polls in Nandigram alone because it is a sensitive constituency,” Yadav said after meeting the commission officials.
“The BJP has requested the commission to release raw footage of Mamata Banerjee’s accident to dispel rumours being spread by Trinamul leaders. We also seek action against Trinamul leaders for spreading misinformation in violation of the model code of conduct,” he added.
In Bengal, Trinamul conducted silent marches in condemnation of the Nandigram incident in every block.
“Nandigram is suddenly at the centre stage. She was already taking on her former Nandigram aide (Adhikari) in the constituency. Now, there was an attempt on her life…. Nandigram could once again prove to be a watershed at this crucial juncture for not only her political career but also Bengal’s future,” said a Trinamul MP.
Anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram, between 2006 and 2008, had played a pivotal role in Mamata’s political career and had propelled her to power in 2011.
