Kolkata, Oct 5 — West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday cautioned his predecessor Mamata Banerjee against pursuing her claims regarding the injury she suffered during the 2021 Assembly poll campaign in Nandigram, saying that doing so could lead to further embarrassment for her.
CM Adhikari’s reaction came after a legal notice sent by Mamata Banerjee’s counsel earlier in the day to three top doctors attached to state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College & Hospital and state-run Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, both in South Kolkata, challenging how a particular medical report of the former Chief Minister was made public without her consent.
Reacting to the legal notice, CM Adhikari said that Mamata Banerjee would attract further embarrassment if she goes overboard on this issue.
“I will request her not to dig into the matter further. If I start showing the X-ray and MRI reports now, she won't be able to leave the house,” CM Adhikari told media persons here on Monday.
On Saturday, CM Adhikari quoted a radiodiagnosis report from the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences dated March 11, 2021, which said there was no sign of fracture in the limb of the former Chief Minister during that period.
On Monday, reacting to the legal notice from Mamata Banerjee’s counsel, he said that if necessary, he will disclose where he sourced the radiodiagnosis report.
“She filed FIRs against BJP leaders, holding them responsible for the leg fracture. She thought that she would come back to power as Chief Minister for the fourth term. But that did not happen. She herself had left behind a lot of important papers in her office drawer. She could not take away all the papers,” CM Adhikari said.
Earlier on Saturday, he also said a separate investigation will be initiated once the results of the bypolls for Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies in West Bengal, scheduled on Tuesday, are declared on October 9.
To recall, in 2021, Mamata Banerjee contested as Trinamool Congress candidate from Nandigram and was defeated by Adhikari by a margin of little less than 2,000 votes. Later, she got elected in a bypoll from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in south Kolkata and retained her chair as the West Bengal Chief Minister for the third consecutive term.
Mamata Banerjee was reportedly injured while campaigning for the 2021 Assembly elections in Nandigram. At that time, she campaigned for the elections with a plaster on her leg after being wheelchair bound.