He, however, maintained that the issue should be resolved within the Front. Bardhan was speaking at a meeting of the All-Bengal Bank Employees’ Union at Indian Museum.

“The Dinhata incident is sad and shocking. The Left Front does not belong to a single party. It is wrong to give the police a clean chit over the firing,” said Bardhan.

On February 5, four Forward Bloc supporters and a policeman were killed at Dinhata, in Cooch Behar, after police opened fire on a group of agitators protesting against the state government’s failure to implement the job guarantee scheme.

Though Bardhan said the Left Front must take lessons from the Dinhata incident, he added: “No one should leave the Left Front. When the Left Front government was formed 30 years ago, it was decided that the police will not use force, leave alone open fire on democratic agitations.”