Large number of speakers at the AICC session denounced the ruling CPM in West Bengal, with state leader Deepa Dasmunsi urging the party high command to ‘give us a directive to launch a state-wide agitation’ against the Left ‘misrule’.

In her inaugural address, Congress president Sonia Gandhi too referred to the ‘major challenges’ faced by the party in states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, saying there was no alternative for Congress workers but to keep aside their differences and put up a united fight.

In a resolution adopted at the session, the party expressed concern over the ‘grave situation’ in Nandigram, where the state government's writ ‘appears to have ceased to run’.

The party also denounced the ‘culture of violence and cult of armed cadres’.

"All this is the natural outcome of a system where the interests of party cadres are placed above the interests of the people at large and the law and order machinery is not allowed to function professionally," the AICC resolution said.