Seeking to stem the fissures in the Left Front which came to the fore in the second phase of the panchayat polls in West Bengal when three RSP and a CPI(M) supporter were killed, Marxist leader Jyoti Basu on Thursday said that the coalition should be built ‘afresh’.
“It is very unfortunate that so many lives were lost in a panchayat election. This is not correct. We have to take lessons from it. All partners including my party CPI(M) should think how the Left Front could be built afresh,” he said.
Stating that violence had taken place in the 2003 elections also, he referred to the disunity among partners over seat-sharing this time, saying, “Matters are worse than the last time.”
He said that Left Front Chairman Biman Bose who is also the state secretary of the CPI(M) had tried to arrive at a consensus but failed.
Basu was speaking to reporters at his residence while releasing a book on the panchayats.
Front partners RSP and Forward Bloc, who are at loggerheads with the CPI(M) over different issues including land acquisition for industries, have held Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee and his party responsible for the violence at Basanti in South 24 Parganas during the polls on Wednesday.