"It was a ploy to kill Banerjee. Had Firhad Hakim not prevented an SFI supporter from attacking her with an iron rod she would have received fatal injuries," State Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said.
"The Delhi police totally failed to provide protection to our chief minister. They should have taken care of fool-proof security. The way SFI and Communist Party of India-Marxist supporters attacked us is shameful," said Mukherjee.
In Delhi, Trinamool MP Sukhendu Shekar Roy made a similar claim.