Mollah’s speech — made at a function on Wednesday, the eve of International Mother Tongue Day — that Marwaris use money to get their work done, was not only greeted with sharp protests by Marwaris who are members of the CPM but also the regional groups, one of which burnt Mollah’s effigy at MG Road.

To make matters worse, Mollah had used a pejorative term for Marwaris. The comments, picked up and reported by The Indian Express on Thursday, had drawn sharp protests from faraway Rajasthan and its Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia.

Sources in the party said leaders like Sarala Maheshwari had called on the state leadership to register their protest.

Word of the controversy had also reached former chief minister Jyoti Basu. The matter was raised at Friday’s meeting of the CPM state secretariat — attended by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Jyoti Basu and Biman Bose, among others — and it was decided to issue a formal statement.

The statement issued by the party state committee in Bengali and Hindi disassociated itself from Mollah’s comment.

“The state committee,” it said, “does not agree with the comment (made by Mollah) and if any community has been hurt, we are sorry. The party’s state leaders shall discuss the matter with the minister.”

At Writers’ Buildings, Trinamool Congress legislator Dinesh Bajaj met the chief minister to protest against Mollah’s comments.

Bajaj, a member of the Marwari community, told reporters after the meeting that the CM had expressed regrets and urged all members of the community not to take cognizance of “such irresponsible statements”.

Bhattacharjee, he said, also urged the community to continue to be partners in the state’s progress.