Mamata 'Didi' stable after respectable retreat

Kolkata, Dec 29: The condition of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who ended her 25 days' hunger strike midnight last night, was stable even though she was still under oxygen support at a South Kolkata nursing home today.

''Her condition is stable. She has mild chest pain. But there is nothing to worry about her overall condition. She is still on oxygen support with saline drips going on,'' Dr Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar, one of the physicians attending on her, said.

Dr Ghosh Dastidar said Ms Banerjee would have to be in the ICCU under medical care for a few more days.

After a prolonged fast Mamata's condition started deteriorating from the 22nd day as her blood pressure had gone down reportedly to an alarming level, pulse rate hovered between 46 and 58 and she kept lying at the dharna manch for the last three days of her hunger strike which she started on December 4 in protest against acquisition of farmlands at Singur for Tata Motros' small car project.

Yesterday she suffered muscle cramp for what her party colleagues said dehydration.

Ms Banerjee had repeatedly refused medical assistance from a team of doctors sent by the West Bengal Government earlier saying she had no faith in the administration. Two of her party colleagues, who themselves are medical practitioners, were looking after the leader's health before her family physician took over.

But after having gone ahead with the demand for scrapping the car project where land had already been acquired, Ms Banerjee refused to give in without a gain as she climbed down to a call for returning to the farmers 406 acres out of total 960 acres of Singur land acquired so far by the government which, she alleged, had been forcibly taken away.

Though Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee asserted that no plot had been acquired without consent and invited Ms Banerjee for talks to ascertain facts, she insisted that the government first fulfil her demand before any dialogue begins.

The situation boiled to a point of no return with both sides remaining unmoved. Though requesting "Didi" a number of times to call off the hunger strike and join negotiation, the chief minsiter said in clear terms that the Tata project would come up at Singur and nowhere else.

With Mamata becoming a prisoner of her own words, repeated appeals by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former prime minister V P Singh, and Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi fell flat on her.

As her health deteriorated fast, anxious party colleagues were eager to find a way out to avoid a possibole tragedy by evolving a solution for glorious retreat of their party supremo. They had been holding unofficial talks with the state government, which was also in touch with the Centre, equally willing to break the deadlock.

After the chief minister talked to him seeking help to end the impasse, the prime minister directed the Eastern Naval command keep vigil on Ms Banerjee's condition and keep ready a team of doctors.

Meanwhile, leaders of the NDA of which the AITC is a partner, met President APJ Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhawan seeking his intervention.

Trying yet again the chief minister sent his fourth letter to the AITC leader last evening amid speculation that the fast might come to an end. But though the AITC leaders were no longer willing to put Mamata's life under risk, some members of the Singur Krishi Jami Raskha Committee, a platform of 20 outfits, including splinter Naxalite groups, found the chief minister's letter containing nothing different from what he said in the past harping on discussion, and not acceding the demand.

Moreover, it was difficult for them to ensure a respectable retreat for Ms Banerjee by accepting the chief minister's proposal which in the past she had rejected thrice.

Unable to reach a quick decision the Singur movement leader prolonged the discussion awaiting a formal appeal from the prime minister, they had already been tiped on.

After the President's fax message to Mamata's house last night expressing concern about her health, a letter from the prime minister reached her via the Raj Bhawan at 2315 hours last night after her colleagues had already declared to take another 24 hours to come to a decision.

Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee also wrote to the AITC chief saying her life was more important than the cause of the farmers.

The PM's letter provided them the opportunity. ''I am withdrawing the hunger strike at the request of the President and Prime Minister. They will do justice to our cause,'' Ms Banerjee said after midnight ending the high voltage drama that dragged over the last month of 2006.

She said the President in his message assured her that he had spoken to the prime minister, who had promised to look into the Singur issue.

After having been successful in making Singur a national issue and getting both the President and the prime minister involved in it, there was virtually no bar for the AITC leader to withdraw her fast. She, however, said the movement on Singur would continue in other form.

''If we had to continue for two or three more days, it would not have been possible for us to hold tears of grief for a life,'' an AITC leader said. ''But we could not have afforded to bow to an administration against which we were fighting. It is our success that we made it a national issue and even the President and the prime minister had to intervene,'' he said.

UNI

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