A harried Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee called up Union Home Minister P Chidambaram a number of times to complain about the CPM resorting to terror and bloodshed and demanded that the Central government step in. While the Trinamool claims 168 of its members have been killed since the Lok Sabha polls, the CPM put their casualty at 130.

Banerjee, who addressed a rally in Nandigram today, laid the blame squarely on the chief minister. “It is Budddadeb Bhattacharjee under whose direct instructions armed CPM cadres are attacking village after village in Bengal. I had had a talk with Union home minister. We demanded intervention from the Centre since the state government has failed to maintain law and order,” she said.

But state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said various groups were trying to gain control of different areas through violence. “There is a fight going on for capturing areas in the state. Firearms have been used in some places. The chief minister has asked the police and administration to act neutrally and adequately,” he said. “There seems to be a cyclic order in the violence. I do not know whether there is a design,” he added.

In Nanoor in Birbhum, 17 people were injured as armed CPM cadres clashed with Trinamool supporters.

The CPM cadres tried to capture a village that had switched loyalty in 2008 rural polls and went the Trinamool way. Both groups fired at each other from country-made guns and hurled crude bombs since this morning.

Kesto Mondol, the district president of Trinamool, said: “Armed CPM attacked villages to recapture them. The police were nowhere to be seen. The CPM is trying to regain their influence before the 2011 polls.”

Samir Bhattacharya, the CPM zonal committee secretary of Nanoor, said, “Our 10 supporters have been injured. Trinamool-backed goons attacked us. People had to retaliate.”

Meanwhile, in different villages of Khanakul in Hooghly, where violence flared up yesterday, sporadic clashes continued today, a day ahead of Banerjee’s visit. Yesterday, a number of people including a policeman were injured in violence. Hundreds of people fled their homes fearing a spurt in violence.