Calcutta, Nov. 6: The CPM’s allies saw a design in the escalation of violence and at least one of them, the RSP, directly accused it of launching a “planned attack” on Nandigram with “armed supporters”.

“The Union home ministry has said it would be difficult to send the CRPF immediately because of polls in other states. So the CPM has assembled its armed supporters to mount the attack in a planned manner with the backing of the Eastern Frontier Rifles,” PWD minister Kshiti Goswami said.

He suspected that the CPM was “in a hurry” to crush the Opposition’s control of Nandigram as it would like the panchayat polls — due in May — to be brought forward.

The home secretary today said CPM supporters in Khejuri started the fight last night.

A day before the Left Front meets to discuss the deployment of central forces, the Forward Bloc and CPI said they had heard what the government had to say and harped on the need for a political dialogue.

CPM state secretary Biman Bose did not react to the home secretary’s comment but other leaders said the supporters were “only defending themselves against Trinamul-Maoist attacks’’.

“I don’t know what hap- pened last night. But we are facing attacks from Trinamul and Maoist goons since January,” said Dipak Dasgupta, the CPM state secretariat member in charge of East Midnapore.

“Why did the home secretary not say that our party office was attacked last night? Our homeless supporters put up the resistance required to ensure their return,” said fellow state secretariat member Shyamal Chakraborty.

If the allies had no doubt about the CPM’s role in the violence, they also had no doubt that Mamata Banerjee did not want peace. Goswami said: “It is in Mamata’s interest to keep the cauldron boiling.”

The Bloc’s Ashok Ghosh was reluctant to renew his peace efforts as neither the government nor Mamata wanted it.

CPM leader Benoy Konar said: “Before the CRPF comes, the ground reality is either we wrest control of our positions or they take over Khejuri.”