Five years after one of the most iconic photos of the 2021 West Bengal election, when Mamata Banerjee was seen campaigning from a wheelchair, with her left leg immobilised, Nandigram has made its comeback into the politics of Bengal.

Suvendu Adhikari, the chief minister, has accused Banerjee of lying about the extent of her injury on March 10, 2021. Medical records in his possession reveal, he says there is “no evidence of fracture or dislocation” and the state CID will probe the episode after the bypolls schedule for the elections are lifted.

It's quite a serious accusation. This is not however, the same as a known fact that Banerjee was not injured or it was staged. That's a distinction that matters.

The report mentioned by Adhikari is from the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences and dated March 11, 2021. There is no report of any fractures or dislocations, according to the document. Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh has denied the charge and raised doubts on the medical findings saying that a fracture does not indicate the absence of an injury.

In 2021, modern medical reports stated that Banerjee was suffering from severe bone and ligament injuries to her left ankle and foot, plus bruising and other injuries. She was discharged from SSKM hospital on 12 March with her foot immobilized and went on to campaign in a wheelchair.

That raises an important medical question that investigators must ask: Was the patient's clinical condition described differently in multiple reports or was there a material discrepancy between the public description and the underlying clinical evidence?

Another one has become murky five years ago: Was Banerjee hurt or was she targeted?

After the Nandigram incident, Banerjee first claimed unidentified persons had pushed her as she was standing by her car. In her next report, she mentioned pressure of the crowd during the time she was greeting the supporters. The Election Commission reviewed state official reports and its special observers' reports. It was not an intentional attack. The Commission, however, viewed the incident as serious security lapses and took action against those in charge of the then chief minister's security.

That 2021 discovery is important now because it offers an independent institutional record to test the new allegations against which they can be made.

Thus, the burden of evidence is greater for Adhikari's government than producing a report indicating that there was no fracture. They'd require the entire medical history: notes and admissions, X-rays and other imaging, specialist evaluations, discharge summary, prescriptions and treatment history. They also would require the police and Election records from that time.

Only then could investigators be able to make a credible determination if there was an injury, what the injury was, how it happened and whether statements made in public were consistent with the medical evidence.

The controversy always has a political aspect to it. Adhikari's victory over Banerjee was the standout individual achievement of the 2021 Bengal Election, despite Trinamool Congress's win of 216 of the Assembly's 294 seats. From that point on, the injury became one of these campaign's defining visual stories as Banerjee kept campaigning from a wheelchair.

Now the protagonists' positions have changed dramatically. Adhikari is chief minister, Banerjee his immediate predecessor and Nandigram is poised to go to the polls once again in a bypoll. The five-year old controversy is thus being revived by a government led by the political opposition who contested the seat in that constituency in the last elections.

It's never more crucial to be transparent than when it's needed.

The economic argument for Bengal not letting its governance be engulfed in retrospective political vendetta is also valid.

The GSDP of West Bengal is estimated at ₹21.48 lakh crore by 2026-27, and its economy is estimated to grow by 7.6% (real growth) in 2025-26. About 59% of the economy is in services, 22% in manufacturing and 19% in agriculture. However, the percentage of the outstanding liabilities is estimated at approximately 38% of GSDP and the fiscal deficit for 2026-27 is estimated at ₹62,421 crore or 2.9% of GSDP.

Meanwhile, there's a huge investment opportunity in front of Bengal. In September, Adani Group had disclosed a plan to spend a total of ₹1,00,000 crore by 2035 in various segments, including power, logistics, infrastructure, healthcare, data centres and clean energy. As an individual piece of the puzzle, there is a maritime investment pipeline of ₹19,209 crore for the state and it could generate over 62,500 direct and indirect jobs by 2031. In FY2025-26, exports from the SEZ of Falta (Jorhat) are projected at ₹85,093 crore and employment in the zone has grown to over 123,000.

Those figures put into perspective the political argument. The bigger skirmish in Bengal is over capital, jobs, infrastructure, industrial credibility and the ability of the state to keep pace with the India's investment destinations that are moving at a more rapid pace.

If the CID investigation is committed to establishing the facts, not political conclusions, then it may be used for a legitimate public purpose. Official records that were altered would be subject to examination. It is equally clear if the records instead show that Banerjee suffered a true non-fracture injury.