It was all set. With Mamata allegedly being injured due to her car’s door slamming her legs, the TMC had the perfect opportunity to turn the tides in their favour. West Bengal, however, is smarter than what Mamata Banerjee and her party seem to have imagined. Sure, the state loves political drama – but the people can see right through those who are fake, liars and in general, authoritarian. So, when Mamata Banerjee took to spinning that unverified and unverifiable theory of being attacked by a group of men – the people of Nandigram, and Bengal at large, made up their minds.
Nandigram is in any case Suvendu Adhikari’s citadel. Attempting to breach an impenetrable fortress like Nandigram should have been a no-brainer for Mamata Banerjee from the word go. Nevertheless, by deciding to contest from the constituency, and then engaging in a theatrical performance, the West Bengal Chief Minister has simply handed over an imminent victory to Suvendu Adhikari on a platter. TFI has already reported how, with her decision to contest from Nandigram, leave alone becoming CM; Mamata Banerjee faces the prospect of not even being elected as an MLA this time around.
Such were the lies of the TMC and its supremo on Wednesday, that even West Bengal Police – which has time and again proven its loyalty for the ruling party, took to debunking the claims of Banerjee. The West Bengal police have told the Election Commission in a report that Mamata Banerjee had met with a simple accident, and was not a victim of an organised attack. The report claims to have arrived at its conclusion via video footage and accounts of local police and eyewitnesses, including Trinamool Congress members. It says the CM was hurt when her car while manoeuvring through a crowded market area, hit a small iron pillar.
And then, Mamata Banerjee herself took to changing her testimony, when on Thursday, she said, “When I was doing namaskar towards the crowd from the top of the bonnet, suddenly I felt a huge pressure, and my legs were crushed by the car.” The Election Commission, meanwhile (which the TMC approached with a basket full of lies, insinuations and false claims) took to thrashing the party left, right and centre. “It looks undignified to even respond to the allegations of all this being done at the behest of a particular political party,” the EC said, in response to the TMC’s claim of the commission removing Bengal’s DGP at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s behest.
As aimed for by the TMC, there is no sympathy wave that has suddenly arisen in Bengal after Banerjee met with what can be called an accident at best. Within Nandigram, that Mamata Banerjee was forced to go on a tour of 19 temples during her two-day visit itself shows how her chances in the constituency are bleak, which is why her consultant – Prashant Kishor has resorted to devising desperate last-minute strategies for the party.