“She (Mamata) said peace must be restored at all costs and violence avoided and in course of her speech, she had conveyed her condolences,” said party leader Subrata Mukherjee at a rally held in Esplanade on Friday. “The CPM and the BJP are trying to close their gap by raising their voice over this non-issue.”

Reiterating the line, party leader Partha Chatterjee added: “Communalism and N-deal have ceased to remain barriers between these two parties and they are now fighting together to resist Mamata Banerjee.”

The rally was held in protest against the rising number of political clashes between the CPM and Trinamool in various parts of the state — Patrasayar, Ketugram, Barrackpore, Sashan and Baruipur — and the breach of security while the minister’s convoy was returning to Kolkata from Lalgarh.

“It was a conspiracy to kill Mamata Banerjee,” said Chatterjee. “The police being hand-in-glove with the ruling party, security arrangements for her were in a shambles. Now they are trying to placate us by assuring a CID inquiry, which will be nothing but a CPM inquiry. The driver of the truck has been arrested, but we believe he is a scapegoat.”