Bose said this at a party gathering in the memory of Prasanta Sur, a former minister who passed away recently.

He, however, did not elaborate on the issue of “foreign forces”.

Over the past two years, three of the biggest Front partners — Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Communist Party of India— have criticised CPM publicly over various issues. From land acquisition for industry to the government’s decision to allow private players into the food retail chain and its failure to provide the rural unemployed the minimum number of working days guaranteed by law.

‘Bose’s statement on foreign forces is seen as an attempt to appease the Bloc.

Stressing the importance of the Front and similar alliances in national politics, Bose told partymen that CPM does not foresee any single party government at the national level in the near future.