India’s Election Commission rules out attack on Mamata, says it was 'accident'
India's Election Commission
today ruled out any attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in
Nandigram assembly constituency where she is in fray for the coming polls,
sources in the polls body said today.
Mamata fell down and sustained
injuries on her left leg and waist, the sources said.
After reviewing the reports sent
by two of the EC's special poll observers deputed in West Bengal and the state
government on the incident, the EC concluded that Mamata sustained injuries in
Nandigram due to "lapse on the part of her security in charge."
The reports said Mamata was not
using a bullet proof or an armoured vehicle despite being a star campaigner and
it was a "lapse" on the part of those responsible for her security,
reports our New Delhi correspondent.
There were allegations that the
door of her SUV was pushed while she was campaigning in Nandigram on Wednesday
evening after filing her nomination from the constituency.
Seated in a wheelchair and
accompanied by senior leaders of her Trinamool Congress, Mamata returned to the
poll campaign trail today by leading a procession from Mayo Road in central
Kolkata to Hazra in the south -- four
days after sustaining the injuries and spending a couple of days in a hospital.
West Bengal Chief Secretary
Alapan Bandopadhyay submitted a second report on the incident to the EC on
Saturday after the polls watchdog said his initial report was
"sketchy."
West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress
as well as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had approached the EC to raise
their concerns over the Nandigram incident.
"The events/actions leading
up to the attempt on her life, leave no doubt that the attack was premeditated
and part of a deep-rooted conspiracy," Trinamool Congress wrote in a
letter to the EC.
On the other hand, the BJP too
had moved the EC and demanded an impartial probe into the incident and that the
video footage of the incident be made public.
Soon after the incident on
Wednesday evening, Mamata had herself described it as a "pre-planned
attack" on her but did not name anyone for it.
Mamata is pitted against her
former top aide Suvendhu Adhikari, who has switched over to the BJP, in the
Nandigram poll battle.