“I am going to stay here,” said the chief minister at the Writers’ Building.

With state Minister for Commerce and Industries Nirupam Sen also choosing to skip the politburo meeting, the only politburo member from West Bengal to attend the meet will be CPM state committee secretary Biman Bose.

On the two leaders (Buddha and Sen) staying away from the CPM apex body meet, Bose said: “The law and order situation has become volatile after the civic polls and the chief minister has to stay back to take care of the situation. For Sen, some official engagement caused him to stay back.”

Interestingly, Sen went to Burdwan this evening for a weekly vacation and for Bose’s reason for chief minister staying back, the law and order situation is normal in the state.

According to sources, both Bhattacharjee and Sen did not want to face a politburo and their questions on the Left’s rout in the civic polls.

“The debacle in the polls has shaken both Bhattachcharje and Sen. They are yet to ascertain the cause behind the debacle,” a state secretariat member said.

The next Left Front meeting has been convened on June 9 and the CPM state committee meeting has been called on June 25 and 26, said the member, while refuting reports that the chief minister had offered to resign in the state secretariat meeting yesterday.

“He is down, but not out. We have started the process of analysing the causes behind the failure. The reports from various units have started pouring in,” the member said.

Samajwadi Party general secretary and state Minister for Fisheries Kiranmoy Nanda, meanwhile, reiterated that the government should seek a fresh mandate from the people.