CPM sources said the closed-door talks that lasted for more than an hour centred around the nitty-gritty of the triennial Congress including the selection of two candidates from the West Bengal unit to fill up vacancies in the Politburo caused by the deaths of Anil Biswas in March 2006 and Chittabrata Majumdar in February 2007.

Biswas, the then CPM state secretary, and Majumdar, former general secretary of the CITU, the CPM’s labour wing, were among the four members from Bengal in the 17-member Politburo that was elected at the April 2005 party Congress. However, Majumdar owed his membership to his post as CITU general secretary.

“The Bengal unit has been asking for two candidates to be selected to the Politburo from the state,” said CPM sources. Shyamal Chakrabarty, the state President of the CITU, figures as a Politburo candidate this time.

Party insiders said Biman Bose is pushing Chakrabarty as a candidate, but both Karat and Bhattacharjee are keen on getting state Commerce and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen into the Politburo.

According to them, Sen is an appropriate choice in the context of Bhattacharjee’s drive for industrialisation, and his election to the Politburo would send out clear signals to the investing community about the importance of industrialisation in the party’s scheme of things.