Hotel room fire: Mamata alleges conspiracy to assassinate her

, April 18: Virtually dismissing the possibility of a short-circuit in her hotel room at Malda that sparked a fire, Chief Minister

on Friday alleged there was a conspiracy to kill her and said in the event of her death she would be reborn again "among the people".

"These people do not want the good of Bengal. After killing me it would be passed on as a short-circuit... as an accidental death. Planning is on," Banerjee told an election meeting in Birbhum district, in eastern state of West Bengal, returning to campaigning after being taken ill after the fire on Thursday.

"But know it that the more you to try to character assassinate me and kill me I will be born again among the people," she said without identifying the conspiring forces.

"You cannot stop me from working for the people," she said.

Earlier, before leaving Malda by helicopter Banerjee told reporters that she was administered oxygen and saline water Thursday night after she felt suffocation on account of exposure to smoke.

"But now it is the election time. So I cannot cancel. I am compelled to carry on the campaign," she said.

Asked whether doctors had advised rest, Banerjee said, "They have said, but do I listen?"

Narrating the sequence of events, Banerjee said she heard a loud sound when she was in the washroom. The room was engulfed in smoke and there was no visibility. She called out to her aide Joydeep who wrapped her in a blanket before escorting her out of the room, she said.

Fire brigade officials, she said, had told her that it was a deadly gas and one could die by inhaling it.

TMC spokesman and Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien said, "We are thankful to the Almighty that Mamata Banerjee is in a position to carry on with her all election programmes today despite the trauma she experienced when a fire broke out in Malda."

PTI