West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has revived the controversy surrounding Mamata Banerjee’s leg injury during the 2021 Assembly election campaign in Nandigram, claiming that she had suffered no fracture and announcing that the state government would initiate a fresh inquiry into what he described as “false propaganda”.
Addressing reporters at the state secretariat on Saturday, Adhikari displayed what he identified as a medical document from the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences. According to the report cited by him, dated March 11, 2021, there was “no evidence of fracture”.
“The document clearly mentions that there was no sign of fracture,” Adhikari said, while alleging that Banerjee had falsely claimed that her leg had been broken during campaigning in Nandigram.
Adhikari announces inquiry after bypoll
The Chief Minister said a detailed investigation would be pursued after the Nandigram Assembly bypoll and the lifting of the Model Code of Conduct.
“I am not saying anything more about this now. The CID is investigating. Once the election code is lifted, we will initiate a fresh investigation into this false propaganda. I will announce it after the 9th,” Adhikari said.
He further said, “Action will be taken after the 9th. Just as a complaint can lead to an investigation, action can also be taken over a false complaint.” 
Banerjee was injured in the Reyapara area of Birulia in Nandigram on March 10, 2021, while campaigning for the Assembly election. At the time, she said she had been pushed against the open door of her vehicle amid a crowd, resulting in an injury to her left leg.
She was taken to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata and subsequently campaigned in a wheelchair with her left foot in a cast. Contemporary medical reports described injuries to her left ankle and foot as well as bruising and pain in other parts of her body.
The Election Commission’s special observers had also concluded at the time that the injury appeared to have been accidental and found no evidence that Banerjee’s convoy had been attacked.
Fresh political dispute over old campaign episode
Adhikari, who was then a senior Trinamool Congress leader but later joined the BJP, defeated Banerjee in the 2021 Nandigram contest. The injury became one of the defining episodes of that election campaign, with Banerjee continuing her campaign from a wheelchair.
Five years later, Adhikari has returned to the episode during campaigning for the Nandigram bypoll, disputing the circumstances and severity of Banerjee’s injury.
His latest claim is based on the medical document he displayed and his interpretation of its contents. The document itself, as described in the report, records an absence of fracture; that does not by itself establish all aspects of Adhikari’s broader allegations about the circumstances surrounding Banerjee’s injury.
