Can Didi's foot note turn into a headline?

It turns out that if West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari's contention sticks, former CM Mamata Banerjee's contention that she had broken her foot, after being allegedly pushed by miscreants while on her 2021 election campaign, won't have a leg to stand on. On Saturday, Adhikari reportedly produced a medical report that proves Didi's claim to have been false. Now, claiming to have sustained an injury and making a show of it - she had subsequently campaigned from a wheelchair with her left leg in a cast - may not be a breach of electoral code of conduct.

But coming as Adhikari's claim does just before Nandigram town goes to the bypoll tomorrow - Suvendu-da defeated Didi in this constituency just a few months after leaving Trinamool for BJP - the bone of contention could be enough for voters not to trust the Mamata-backed Congress candidate (the Trinamool candidate literally decamped after meeting Adhikari). The state government has promised to launch a probe into Didi's 'false propaganda', although it's unclear what the consequences of such an old leg-pulling on her part can be.

If Adhikari is proved right, Banerjee won't be the first or last person to fake an injury. Generations of schoolgoers have dodged duties by feigning a 'stomach ache', 'dizziness' or 'bereavement of a (third?) grandparent'. Who knows? Didi's foot note may make headlines yet.