"Today, I was supposed to have a meeting with the finance minister... but I am returning to Kolkata. I was unwell since last evening and had to be administered oxygen. I will come back, but Delhi is not a safe place. I am sorry," she told reporters here before leaving for Kolkata.
She said soon after she cancelled her meeting with the Prime Minister last night, Manmohan Singh called her up and apologised for the incident outside the Planning Commission where she and state finance minister Amit Mitra faced the wrath of Left activists protesting the death of SFI leader Sudipto Gupta in Kolkata.
Asked about the details of her conversation with Singh and West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan, Banerjee said, "I had an appointment with the PM, which I could not do it. I apologise for that. He also told me that Mamataji, what happened ... I also apologise to you...which should not (have) happen(ed) and I think that in Delhi ... this is the first time, it is happening".
She also dismissed the reports about violence against the Left parties in West Bengal even after her appeal for calm in the state and blamed the CPI(M) for it.
"No violence. Whatever violence ... CPI(M) cadre is doing. Our cadres are totally peaceful. They are very emotional. They listen to me. Let me tell that 55,000 people have been killed by CPI(M)," she said.
Banerjee claimed that political clashes during Left rule in the state were "hundred times more" than during her rule so far. "In the last one year, it is only 10 political clashes and in that too six TMC workers have been killed."
The chief minister also criticised the Delhi Police for not being able to prevent the incident at the Planning Commission building yesterday.
Banerjee dismissed reports that she was asked by the police to enter through another gate, instead of the one where the demonstration was being held.
Police had yesterday reportedly said that she was advised to use the VIP gate of the Planning Commission instead of the main gate where SFI activists had assembled.
When asked about these reports, she said, "Not at all. Do you think I am a beggar? I never bow down my head. I consider myself as an LIP (Less Important Person) than a VIP."
She also ridiculed the CPI(M) for condemning the incident, dubbing them "hypocrites and have double standards."
"(On) one side they are killing the people and then they are condemning it. It is their double standard game always and they are hypocrites," she said.
Hours after facing the ire of the Left activists at the Planning Commission, Banerjee had also cancelled her appointment last evening with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who expressed regret over the incident.
As Mitra was hospitalised at the AIIMS last evening and kept under observation, Singh spoke to Banerjee after her office called up the PMO to cancel the meeting scheduled with him saying she was unwell and her blood pressure had dipped.
The Prime Minister also enquired about her well-being, sources close to the chief minister said.
They said the meeting with Chidambaram and a press conference she was to address in the evening have been cancelled.
Banerjee and Mitra were the target of the wrath of CPI-M and its students' wing SFI's activists who were protesting the death of their comrade Sudipta Gupta in police custody in Kolkata last week.
Some Trinamool Congress workers, led by party leader Mukul Roy, also staged a protest gathering at Jantar Mantar here.
Giving a new twist to the incident, Trinamool MP Sukhendu Shekar Roy claimed it was a "murderous attack" on Banerjee.
"It was a murderous attempt on the life of Mamata and three other Cabinet ministers, especially Amit Mitra," Roy told reporters here, adding that it was "a pre-planned attack on the eve of Panchayat Elections to create a situation so that the demand for central forces can be justified."
At the same time, he sidestepped questions on the attack by Trinamool Congress activists on CPI(M) offices and workers across West Bengal.
"That is a wild allegation against us. Nowhere in this country during the 34 year misrule of Left Front more than 60,000 innocent people were butchered. Don't compare this incident with that genocide," he said to questions on the attacks by Trinamool Congress activists in Bengal.
Condemning the attack, Roy claimed that the police had remained silent onlookers when CPI-M and SFI activists "roughed up Mitra and no arrests has been made yet."
He claimed that the protests at Planning Commission yesterday was not a demonstration by students as "there were many hired goons above the age of 40."
In the incident, while the Chief Minister was shielded by policemen, it was left to Mitra's lot to face the anger of the activists who were protesting the death of SFI member Sudipta Gupta.
The 65-year-old Finance Minister was pushed and jostled around as he tried to enter the Yojna Bhawan building.
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