Mamata Banerjee said her car was attacked during a visit to Nandigram on Tuesday.
Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that her car was attacked once again in Nandigram a day ago, adding that she had photographs and videos as proof and would take up the issue after the elections.
Ms Banerjee said that she refrained from any action as elections are on and the model code of conduct is in place.
“How dare they attack my car! I kept mum only because the elections are on. Or else I would have seen how big they have grown,” Ms Banerjee said at a rally in Goghat, around 90 km from Kolkata.
“I have videos of the goons attacking my car. Let the elections be over in Bengal, then I will take action,” the Chief Minister said, adding a Bengali proverb “Ami dekhbo koto dhane koto chaal hoi (They will learn what’s what).”
A visibly agitated Ms Banerjee said of her attackers, “I will see which ‘gaddar‘ (traitor) shelters you. Where will you go? To Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan or UP. I will drag you back here (West Bengal).”
According to news agency PTI, Mamata Banerjee was heckled on Tuesday allegedly by opposition party supporters when she visited a Trinamool Congress worker, undergoing treatment after being beaten up.
Her car was then chased by people waving placards, who Trinamool members said had attacked the vehicle, PTI reported.
Ms Banerjee, who is contesting from Nandigram assembly constituency, said the BJP has roped in former Left goons to fight her.
“You (BJP party members) are scared to fight a single woman…BJP has nothing of its own. They are running the party by borrowing CPM goons. They (BJP) have given tickets to CPM ‘harmads’ (mercenaries) to fight the elections,” she alleged.
Ms Banerjee’s accusations come two weeks after the Election Commission ruled out she was attacked in Nandigram earlier this month, saying it was an accident in which she was injured.
The Commission, which held a meeting to discuss the issue after receiving a report on the incident, pointed out lapses on part of the Chief Minister’s security personnel.
Ms Banerjee had first said she was pushed by four or five people against her car and had the door shut on her, during her visit to Nandigram. There were no police personnel around her at the time, she had said.
The next day, however, she made no reference to the attack, saying instead, “It is true that I was very badly hurt yesterday and that I have a foot injury, a bone injury and in the ligament and I had pain in my head and chest as a result of the injury”.
“I was greeting people from the car bonnet and a huge pressure came….and the car crushed my foot,” said the 66-year-old, who returned to the campaign trail in a wheelchair.
With a bitter face-off between Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool and the BJP, West Bengal is holding a record eight-phase election that ends April 29. Votes will be counted on May 2.
(With inputs from PTI)