A two-day conference of the party was kicked off today by state secretary Ashok Ghosh who has been severely critical of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led Left Front government in the state for his reformist agenda.

The state leaders will mainly discuss the failures of the Left Front government in which the Forward Bloc is a constituent.

“If we do not criticise the CPM for the failures of the government that has resulted in the Left Front’s debacle in the recent Lok Sabha polls, people will not believe us. Discontent will grow among our ranks also,” said a secretariat member of the Bloc before the start of the conference.

The Bloc has won the Goalpokhor Assembly by-election while the CPM lost all the seats it contested in the bypolls. “This has set an example for our party cadres that the Bloc can also win an election without the help of big brother CPM,” said a leader.

Debabrata Biswas, the party general secretary who will be present at the meeting, said the Left should opt for a change immediately. “We should change our plans, agenda and the language we use. West Bengal should be an example for the rest of the country,” he said.

Earlier, in several district conferences, Forward Bloc has been taking on the CPM for its failure in implementing government schemes like the NREGA and rural electrification programme.