Will wheelchair bound Mamata fall heavier on BJP or remain optics in Bengal Polls 2021?

Cut to Mar 10, 2021, visuals of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suffering from pain due to a leg injury, which she says was an attack, in state elections' epicentre Nandigram flashed on television screens at around 6:30 pm.

As reporters were struggling to find out what had exactly happened, Banerjee went ahead accusing four-five unidentified people pushing the door of her car to hit her left ankle while she was greeting people in Birulia. 

"Four-five men pushed me to the car... I am having deep pain. See my leg got swollen. I am having slight temperature as well and having chest pain," the Chief Minister, who was rushed to Kolkata's SSKM Hospital within hours, had said.

While the careful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is both calling the incident a "drama" as well as demanding a high-level probe, the Trinamool Congress went ahead to link the saffron party with the incident though the CM herself shied away from any further accusations.

Banerjee, who was discharged from hospital last evening, has already announced she would resume her campaigning in a wheelchair, something which is unprecedented in Bengal politics, within a few days.

In a sea-saw battle between the defender Trinamool and attacker BJP in the state polls amid "Khela Hobe" slogan, all political parties would undoubtedly keep one eye at least on when and how the feisty 66-year old politician takes the dais in a wheelchair.

In a political statement, the BJP has accused Banerjee and her party of triggering an emotion among people to garner votes, something which has been denied by the Trinamool.

Though the Trinamool denies such a claim, there is no doubt that Banerjee's popularity also grew during the Left era surviving the physical attacks by police on multiple occasions.

The picture of Banerjee holding his head with blood-stained cotton saree during a rally is still fresh in the minds of the people of Bengal.

Many believe the subsequent attacks on Banerjee by the police of the CPI-M government, be it in Singur or Writers' Building, has catapulted her eventful political journey.

But this is a different pitch and a different time. With the growth of social media, where visuals of Banerjee being attacked in Nandigram have not yet emerged, the Trinamool supremo may not find the same "sympathy votes" as she used to enjoy as a fiery opposition leader in the 1990s or post-2000.

On whether she would get a political dividend on not, political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said, "Things will be clear after a few days of campaigning. But the elections this time are getting fought on identity politics. In identity politics, personal emotions do not work much. Secondly, Mamata Banerjee as an opposition leader got political dividends every time she was attacked physically.

"But on this occasion, it is not certain that she would get the political dividend because of identity politics and moreover due to the advent of social media. The state administration has not yet been able to prove that Mamata Banerjee's injury was caused by a conspiracy followed by the statements of eye-witnesses.

"Additionally, she has been running the government for 10 years so the anti-incumbent voters won't suddenly switch to vote for Mamata Banerjee. The scope for such a shift in votes is less."

On the flipside, Banerjee's alleged attack had led the Trinamool workers and supporters to take to the road, protesting against the BJP, which can be viewed as a further mobilisation of cadres just days ahead of the kickstarting of the polls which saw massive defections from the ruling outfit.

Biswanath Chakraborty feels the Nandigram incident can have an additional benefit to the Trinamool, if not a huge swing in votes.

"The Trinamool's advantage is that it can have Mamata Banerjee's injury as an additional point in its campaign. The incident can be used to emotionally charge the party workers and supporters. Emotionally charging party workers is important in politics and also it helps to keep the flock together. It will be beneficial in that way," Chakraborty said.

Dividend to the Trinamool or not, the epicentre of polls, Nandigram, where Banerjee will take on her former lieutenant and now BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, will see the temperature soaring.