The West Bengal government will launch a fresh inquiry into Mamata Banerjee's "false claims" of leg injury during the 2021 assembly poll campaign, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference at the state secretariat Nabanna, Adhikari claimed that a medical report from the state-run Bangur Institute of Neurosciences showed no evidence of a fracture in Banerjee's leg following the incident in March 2021.
"Mamata Banerjee faked her leg injury during campaigning in Nandigram in 2021. This is the report of the Department of Radio Diagnosis of Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, dated March 11, 2021. There is no evidence of a fracture," Adhikari said, while displaying, what he claimed, was Banerjee's medical report.
He said the state CID is already investigating the matter and the state government will launch a fresh probe after the assembly by-elections.
"Her false allegation insulted the people of Nandigram. The CID is investigating the matter and I will not divulge more details. Once the model code of conduct is lifted after October 9, we will initiate a fresh probe into this false propaganda. Today, I am saying this in support of my claims made yesterday," he said.
By-elections will be held in Nandigram and Rejinagar seats on October 6 and the results will be announced on October 9.
The CM alleged that the incident had been used to mislead people in the state.
"There was a media trial and the people of West Bengal were misled," he said.
Adhikari on Friday made claims about Banerjee allegedly faking her leg injury in 2021, while addressing a rally in Nandigram's Birulia Bazaar, incidentally the same location where the then CM had sustained her injury five years ago.
Banerjee had sustained injuries to her left leg and waist in Reyapara area of Birulia on March 10, 2021, during her election campaign.
She had initially stated that a few unknown persons deliberately pushed her against her open car door, causing it to slam hard against her left leg and crush it amidst a heavy crowd.
In a subsequent video message from the hospital, she recounted that the massive crowd pressed into her car while she was greeting supporters, causing her leg to get crushed and injured.
She was officially diagnosed with severe bone and ligament injuries to her left ankle and foot, along with bruising and pain in her right shoulder, forearm, neck, and waist and was rushed back to Kolkata and admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital.
Following extensive tests, Banerjee was discharged on March 12, with her left foot in a cast and continued her subsequent campaign in a wheelchair.
The Trinamool Congress had registered an emphatic victory in the 2021 polls, with the party bagging 216 of the 294 seats and restricting the BJP to 77.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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