The CPM lost almost all the civic bodies in Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts, both known as strongholds of the party.

In the face of strong criticism from the ranks, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the government and the party both have alienated from the poor people.

“Only proper implementation of pro-poor schemes can help us in this situation,” he said.

The party has been blaming its own ranks for its poor electoral performance since the rural elections held in 2008.

The district leaders at the meeting blamed the top leaders like the party General Secretary Prakash Karat, state Secretary Biman Bose and Chief Minister Bhattacharjee for their ‘wrong handling’ of the situation in the state since Nandigram events.

The meeting was attended by around 80 state committee members, the majority of whom are functioning at district and sub-division levels.

Sources said, two leaders including Land Reforms Minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah lambasted the party’s senior leadership for their lack of commitment in dealing with the crisis the party is facing for past two years or more.

Later, a section of leaders from Hoogly, North 24 Parganas and Burdwan also joined them in criticising the top leadership.

The meeting which ended at late evening on Sunday failed to come up with the strategy for a speedy recovery for the party from the current situation, said sources.

Mollah said the party leaders are blamed for their inaction in the face of the ‘wave of change’.

“The reason for debacle, I believe lies with the land acquisition policies of the government and the party which had ratified the policy. The top leaders should clear confusion among the people about it and should apologise openly for their policy as it alienated the poor from our party and the government,” Mollah has reportedly said at the meeting.

“This is right that I have my own view about the land acquisition but I would not discuss the issue with the media, especially what I said at the meeting,” Mollah said when contacted.

While some of district-level leaders including Mollah blamed the senior leadership for the debacle, Biman Bose tried to fight back them with his arguments.

“The results of the recent civic elections show that there is lack of confidence among party cadres resulting in such a set back. It is not unusual to blame senior leadership for the debacle but the lower committees are equally liable for it. When zonal and local committees selected the candidates, then why should the higher committee be blamed for the set back,” Bose has reportedly said at the meeting.

CPM sources said, for past two weeks the district committees have discussed the fallout in the recent civic polls. Senior leaders including Biman Bose, Benoy Konar, Surya Kanta Mishra have faced the ire of the party ranks.