Kolkata:
She's caused the government considerable embarrassment in Parliament recently, but Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has sent Mamata Banerjee a bouquet and a request to "get well soon."
Banerjee's car was hit by a truck as she was headed back to Kolkata after a controversial rally at Lalgarh, home to one of the country's most fierce ideological and practical battles between the government and Maoists.
Banerjee's party, the Trinamool Congress, said on Tuesday that she would not attend the rest of this Parliament session because of the injuries from her accident. An aide also described the collision as a conspiracy, hinting that the CPM state government may have been responsible for it.
On Monday, Banerjee, flanked by Maoist sympathizers like author Mahashweta Devi and Swami Agnivesh addressed a massive rally in Lalgarh. She urged the Maoists to end violence and begin talks with the central government. She also infuriated the Opposition by describing the death of Azad, a senior Maoist leader, as a murder. Azad was shot in Andhra Pradesh in July this year by the state police.
In Parliament, the BJP and Left demanded that the PM explain why a member of his cabinet seems at odds with the government's strategy in dealing with the Maoist insurgency - one that the PM has described as the most serious internal threat to India's security.
Since 2008, Lalgarh has been a stronghold of Maoist insurgents. A landmine targeted Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee during his visit to the region; he was accompanied by senior union ministers including Ram Vilas Paswan.
The police retaliated with massive raids, angering tribals in the area, and allegedly violating human rights.
Supported by the People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), the Maoists in the area galvanized a massive rebellion - police stations were attacked, roads to the area were cut off to deny access to administrative officials and security forces, and CPM workers were killed. On June 2009, security forces marched into Lalgarh as part of a massive operation to flush out Maoists.
Banerjee's Trinamool Congress insists that the PCPA did not attend her rally, but television footage shows otherwise. PCPA leader Manoj Mahato led people to the rally but did not personally attend it, claiming that he might provoke police action.
Banerjee's car was hit by a truck as she was headed back to Kolkata after a controversial rally at Lalgarh, home to one of the country's most fierce ideological and practical battles between the government and Maoists.
Banerjee's party, the Trinamool Congress, said on Tuesday that she would not attend the rest of this Parliament session because of the injuries from her accident. An aide also described the collision as a conspiracy, hinting that the CPM state government may have been responsible for it.
On Monday, Banerjee, flanked by Maoist sympathizers like author Mahashweta Devi and Swami Agnivesh addressed a massive rally in Lalgarh. She urged the Maoists to end violence and begin talks with the central government. She also infuriated the Opposition by describing the death of Azad, a senior Maoist leader, as a murder. Azad was shot in Andhra Pradesh in July this year by the state police.
In Parliament, the BJP and Left demanded that the PM explain why a member of his cabinet seems at odds with the government's strategy in dealing with the Maoist insurgency - one that the PM has described as the most serious internal threat to India's security.
Since 2008, Lalgarh has been a stronghold of Maoist insurgents. A landmine targeted Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee during his visit to the region; he was accompanied by senior union ministers including Ram Vilas Paswan.
The police retaliated with massive raids, angering tribals in the area, and allegedly violating human rights.
Supported by the People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), the Maoists in the area galvanized a massive rebellion - police stations were attacked, roads to the area were cut off to deny access to administrative officials and security forces, and CPM workers were killed. On June 2009, security forces marched into Lalgarh as part of a massive operation to flush out Maoists.
Banerjee's Trinamool Congress insists that the PCPA did not attend her rally, but television footage shows otherwise. PCPA leader Manoj Mahato led people to the rally but did not personally attend it, claiming that he might provoke police action.
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