A source in the Left Front said that CPM’s initiative was quite natural as this is the time when the party needs allies to form panchayat bodies in the rural areas.

“At many places, formation of a panchayat body will be impossible for the CPM without the support of the smaller partners,” said a senior leader in the Left Front.

CPM state Secretary Biman Bose, who had earlier blamed the Forward Bloc for Left Front’s disunity, spent Friday morning with the Bloc leaders at Alimuddin Street — the party’s state headquarters. In the bipartite meeting, Bose and the Bloc leaders, including its state secretary Ashok Ghosh, discussed the panchayat poll debacle.

Emerging from the meeting, Ghosh said: “We discussed the poll outcome. The reasons behind the losses are yet to be ascertained. Industrial policy might be one of the causes, but we are not sure at this stage. We will discuss the issue after having more details.”

Later, Bose and other CPM members also met CPI leaders, including its state secretary Manjukumar Majumdar and minor irrigation minister Nandagopal Bhattacharjya.