“We are going to press home the point that it was the CPM which was solely responsible for the carnage in Nandigram.

“The partners in the Left Front are in no way responsible, they in fact warned the state government against taking any drastic action,” Dasmunsi today the media here.

The minister will visit Nandigram on March 14 to “pay homage to those who were killed in the police-firing incident that took place last year and all those who lost their lives during their agitation against land acquisition.”

The Congress party will hold silent rallies across the state on that day which will be observed as Martyrs’ Day.

On the issue of the elections to the five Rajya Sabha seats from the state, Dasmunsi said that his party would try to seek cooperation from the Trinamool Congress.

The CPM is expected to bag three of the five Rajya Sabha seats, while the Forward Bloc will get one. The tussle is over the remaining one seat, which was earlier held by Trinamool’s Dinesh Trivedi. To win the seat again, Trinamool needs 50 votes. While it has 30 votes, the Congress has another 20 votes and both must vote together.