Trinamool questions authenticity of report on Mamata Banerjee’s 2021 injury claim (Lead)

Kolkata, Oct 3 (IANS) The Trinamool Congress has questioned the authenticity of the radiodiagnosis report made public by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday.

Quoting the report, CM Adhikari accused Mamata Banerjee of making a false claim that she had suffered a leg fracture during the poll campaign in the Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.

Hours after CM Adhikari made the allegation while speaking to media persons and also made public the radiodiagnosis report from the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences dated March 11, 2021, Trinamool Congress legislator from Beliaghata Assembly Constituency in North Kolkata, Kunal Ghosh, a prominent face of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction in Trinamool, challenged the authenticity of the report.

Indirectly claiming that the radiodiagnosis report might have been doctored, Ghosh, a journalist-turned-politician, said that since the current dispensation in West Bengal is run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), questions were bound to arise regarding the authenticity of the report.

Ghosh also argued that when a senior citizen sustains injuries, doctors often decide the course of treatment.

“It is up to the doctor concerned to decide whether the injured leg should be bandaged or plastered, as is done in cases of fracture,” Ghosh said.

He also accused CM Adhikari of trying to malign Mamata Banerjee personally because he was unable to fight her politically.

While Ghosh came to the defence of Mamata Banerjee, expelled Trinamool Congress legislator Ritabrata Banerjee, who is a leader of the “rebel but majority” faction in the former ruling party of West Bengal, ridiculed Mamata Banerjee over the development and said it was high time that a special award should be given to her for her ability to hoodwink common people.

“I would request the current state government and the Chief Minister to arrange for this special award for Mamata Banerjee at a public programme at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata,” he said.

In 2021, Mamata Banerjee contested as the Trinamool Congress candidate from Nandigram and was defeated by Adhikari by a margin of less than 2,000 votes.

Later, she was elected in a bypoll from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in South Kolkata and retained her position as Chief Minister of West Bengal for a third consecutive term.

Mamata Banerjee was reportedly injured while campaigning for the 2021 Assembly elections in Nandigram.

At that time, she campaigned with a plaster on her leg and while using a wheelchair.

On Saturday, CM Adhikari termed her claim of suffering a fractured leg as fabricated, citing the radiodiagnosis report.

He also said the state administration would initiate a separate investigation into what he described as her false claim.

–IANS

src/dan