Mmata falls sick after 23rd day of her fast

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who’s been on a hunger strike for the past 23 days, was put on oxygen support on Tuesday after she complained of breathing trouble. Mamata has been fasting since December 4 to protest the Left Front government’s decision to acquire multi-crop land in Singur for the proposed Tata Motor venture.

“Despite her breathing problem, she will continue her fast and not withdraw till the state government returns land forcibly acquired from the Singur farmers,” opposition leader in the state Assembly, Mr Partha Chatterjee said on Tuesday.

In fact, Mamata still isn’t letting state government physicians to attend on her. The government had sent a team of doctors to her dharna site several times, but the team wasn’t allowed to examine the Trinamool leader. On Tuesday, however, Mamata’s family physicians decided to put her on oxygen support.

The BJP all-India president Rajnath Singh who was town on Tuesday to meet Mamata, said “the entire nation will blame West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee if something happens to Mamata.” Mr Singh, however, has not requested Mamata to end her fast.

Earlier, Mr Bhattacharjee, who attended a function organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday morning, implored Mamata to end the fast. The chief minister has already written several letters to the Trinamool Congress leader requesting to end her fast.

Meanwhile, 19 Trinamool Congress MLAs, including the opposition leader Mr Chatterjee, were arrested near the Kolkata police headquarters at Lalbazar on Tuesday afternoon when they went there to demonstrate over Singur.