Berhampore, Jan. 1: The CPM has decided to revamp the district committee in Murshidabad before the Assembly elections slated for 2006.

In its drive to reorganise the district unit, the CPM state leadership appears set to replace district party secretary Madhu Bag with Nripen Chowdhury, a close associate of former state party secretary Sailen Dasgupta. Bag has been functioning as the district party chief for two decades.

Three other district secretariat members are also being replaced by younger ones, party insiders said.

?The move is to inject fresh blood into the beleaguered organisation which has repeatedly failed to combat the state Congress in Murshidabad alone,? observed a senior party leader.

Ninetysix local committees have been bifurcated into 125 units and the number of zonal committees has been increased from 11 to 17, to consolidate the organisation in the district, whose three-day party conference will be inaugurated tomorrow by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

The inclusion of several industrialists in party committees has also raised questions in CPM circles. ?At a time when the poor and the landless are maintaining distance with our party, industrialists with vested interests are coming closer to us. This is a bad trend and we have to remain alert,? said a district secretariat member on condition of anonymity.

The issue will crop up at the conference, he said. The draft resolution to be placed in the conference has also highlighted this, said a key CPM leader.

The CPM in Murshidabad district has, however, increased its membership from 10,204 in 2001 to 14,800 in 2004. ?But a mere increase in membership does not mean that we have gained people?s confidence. We have to be very careful about inculcating communist values into our members,? observed Bag.

The Marxist leader will function as the chief advisor of the Murshidabad unit after he hands over the charge of district secretary.

RSP threat to quit UPA: The RSP, one of the constituents of the ruling Left Front in Bengal, today threatened that it would withdraw support from the UPA-led coalition in Delhi if it ?continues to adopt anti-people policies?.

The state secretary of the party, Debabrata Banerjee told a gathering of party supporters in Debagram in Nadia district that they would not mind withdrawing support on the Manmohan Singh government even if ?our decision hurts the CPM?.

He also criticised the CPM for its ?big brotherly attitude? towards small partners. ?The Left Front government performed well for ten years since it came to power in 1977. But after that the Front?s image has eroded as the CPM has forced other partners to support it in adopting anti-poor policies.?