Priyanka with mother Iti. (Sanat Kumar Sinha)

Calcutta, Dec. 22: Priyanka Goldar was tonight shifted to a private nursing home from a state hospital at a Trinamul Congress central minister’s insistence hours after the government offered to pay for her treatment, exposing a game of political one-upmanship in which the girl has become a tool.

The nine-year-old, struck by bomb shrapnel in Habra, was brought to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital today for surgery after finance minister Asim Dasgupta intervened.

“After reading about the plight of the girl in The Telegraph, I immediately called up the district magistrate of North 24-Parganas and told him to arrange for an ambulance to shift her to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital,” Dasgupta said.

“The state government will bear the cost of her treatment,” he said.

Hours later, Trinamul Union minister Mukul Roy paid Priyanka a visit at RG Kar on party chief Mamata Banerjee’s instructions. Late at night, Priyanka was shifted to the private nursing home in Kidderpore.

“At Mamata Banerjee’s insistence, we have decided to look after the girl. Trinamul will pay for all her medical expenses,” Roy said. “She is the daughter of a leader of our party,” he claimed.

The girl’s family signed a “risk bond” and took her out of RG Kar where her right shoulder was to be operated on. “I was told by officers of Tallah and Habra police stations that there were no complaints filed in connection with this child. So we could not prevent the family from taking her away,” said Lalit Vaid, the superintendent at RG Kar. “We had conducted all tests and she was doing fine. There was no negligence on our part.”

According to the girl’s mother Iti, Roy came to the hospital in the afternoon and told the family to shift Priyanka to a hospital in Kidderpore.

“We trust the Trinamul leader and former councillor of our area, Kanchan Ghosh (of the Prafullanagar area in Habra). When he told us that we should do as Mukul Roy said, we agreed. He said our daughter would be taken very good care of,” Iti said.

The political scramble today was in sharp contrast with the inaction yesterday. On Monday, Priyanka waited for seven hours with the shrapnel stuck in her right shoulder before Habra State General Hospital admitted her. But it did not have the equipment needed or the surgeon to operate on her.

When the Goldars tried to bring her to Calcutta, a Trinamul-backed Congress bandh meant she could not be brought to RG Kar for the surgery. Iti said no politician had the time to arrange for her transport despite requests.

Trinamul FIR

Police have recorded an FIR against a Trinamul Congress activist in connection with the Habra shooting in which another activist of the party and a Congress leader were killed.

Mamata was left red-faced today after it came to the fore that Raju Dam, named in the FIR, was known to central minister Mukul Roy. She is said to have chided party leaders for the “steady infiltra- tion of bad elements” into the organisation.

At Sunday night’s shooting, Congress leader Bapi Chowdhury and a Trinamul student wing functionary Ranjit Roy were killed.

Chowdhury’s mother Reba lodged the FIR at Habra police station yesterday against Dam. Six others have been mentioned but not named.

“Didi questioned about Raju Dam’s entry into the party and also ticked off Mukul for his hobnobbing with him,” said a party general secretary. Sources said that till a couple of years ago, Dam was with the CPM.

Congress leaders said Chowdhury’s bid to persuade 200 Trinamul activists to join his party might have prompted Raju and his associates to murder him.