In an unprecedented move to reach out to the Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday went to hospitals of Midnapore, where the saffron party workers are admitted after being injured in a rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 16. She also met people who were hospitalised after being attacked allegedly by the Trinamool Congress workers.
Banerjee later announced a solatium of Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh to the victims depending on their injuries.
Banerjee, who is in Midnapore to attend the convocation of IIT Kharagpur, slated to be held on Friday, made an impromptu visit to hospitals. President Ramnath Kovind, along with West Bengal Governor K.N. Tripathy, would also attend the convocation ceremony along with Banerjee.
Banerjee's visit to the Modi supporters at hospitals assumes significance as the TMC is leaving no stone unturned to gain their support back in the western part of the state, where BJP has been able to make a gain in recent times. The huge attendance in Modi's rally this week has left the TMC perturbed.
Though most of those injured have already been discharged, around 10 people are still admitted in the Midnapore hospital and three others at a local private nursing home.
Banerjee also met people who were allegedly beaten up for attending Modi's rally. A visibly uncomfortable chief minister said, "I would examine it." She then rushed to other patients in the hospital.
BJP has criticised Banerjee's move as nothing but an attempt to hog the limelight.
"What would she do by going there? We are bearing the expense of everything. We are also treating the people who got injured by her own party men for attending Modiji's rally," said Biswapriya Roychowdhury, vice president of the BJP's West Bengal unit.
He said Modi called the party brass of West Bengal a day after the accident and inquired about their health. Modi also urged the party's state leadership to give prime attention to the patients.
Meanwhile, BJP national president Amit Shah is all set to visit Bengal again in the first week of August. Shah would reportedly stay in Kolkata and would attend a big rally, seen as an answer to Banerjee's Martyr day rally on July 21.
A top BJP leader in the state said, "Modi ji would again visit Bengal. It would be around September end or October first week."