Bhattacharjee along with CPM state secretary Biman Bose and other senior secretariat members held meetings with the secretariat leaders to evaluate the party’s defeat in panchayat elections and chalk out a strategy for the future. District leaders were asked to submit reports on the poll debacle by Sunday.

“We must win back our support in the district, which was once our stronghold. The upcoming civic elections are an acid test. District leaders are told to maintain cordial relations with the RSP and the Forward Bloc. Smooth seat sharing is to be ensured in Diamond Harbour. We want to keep the unity of the Front intact this time,” said a senior leader of the CPM. According to the party sources, the chief minister and the party’s state secretary were unhappy with the way the panchayat elections were handled by the district leaders. Five people had died during the clash between the RSP and the CPM on the poll day in Basanti.

Daughter-in-law of the RSP leader and State Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar was also killed in a bomb explosion. These events put a strain on the relations between the two Front partners.

The situation in Diamond Harbour was no longer favourable for the CPM, as much of its vote base had been eroded, sources said. Besides, the PDS led by its leader Samir Putatunda holds sway in the area.