Mamata Banerjee stable, say doctors

Kolkata, March 11

Doctors treating West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she was stable but had low sodium in her blood.    

Banerjee claimed she was recently attacked while she was campaigning for the state's high-decibel assembly elections. A photo shared by her nephew Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday evening showed her sitting on a hospotal bed with a cast on her leg. Videos that did the rounds after the incident showed a pale and disheveled Mamata Banerjee pointing to her leg in a cast and saying: "See how it is swelling up".

 She claims a group of four of five people pushed her against her car in   Birulia Anchal and tried to shut the car door on her. She claimed no policemen were present during the time of the incident. 

Doctors said she will remain under strict observation. 

"The chief minister has severe bony injuries in her left ankle and foot, besides injuries in right shoulder, forearm, and neck. She is stable now but is having severe pain in the injured leg," a senior doctor at the state-run SSKM Hospital said.

"The board of doctors evaluated her condition in the afternoon and have decided to conduct a further radiological investigation to exclude any pathology arising out of the the post-traumatic syndrome," he said.

The doctors will meet again in the evening for another round of review, he added.

"The treatment continues in the same line with correction of hyponatremia. The review board will again meet in the evening," the doctor said.

Hyponatremia is a condition in which the concentration of sodium in the blood is abnormally low.

Replying to a question on how long the chief minister is needed to remain at the hospital, the doctor told reporters, "Can't give you any date, the treating doctors will decide depending on her health condition". Till afternoon, Banerjee underwent around eight different types of blood tests, sources at the hospital said.

The doctors are planning to conduct a series of medical tests, including a CT scan, to assess the degree of her injury, they said.

"A temporary plaster was done on her left ankle. Her ECG report was fine. Her fever has subsided," one of the sources said.

The state government constituted a six-member medical team to treat Banerjee, and doctors conducted an X-ray on the chief minister as soon as she was taken to the hospital from Nandigram on Wednesday evening.

Banerjee is undergoing treatment at special cabin number 12.5 at the Woodburn Block of SSKM Hospital, following an alleged attack on her during the election campaign in Nandigram.

In a video message from the hospital, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged supporters to maintain peace.

“Don’t do anything that would cause problems to the public,” he said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she would return to the election campaign in few days and use a wheelchair if necessary.

— Agencies