Calcutta, Jan. 17: CPM state secretary Biman Bose today warned allies of division in their ranks if they tried to break up the Left Front.

Addressing the CPM state conference, Bose said: “Not an inch of political space will be conceded to the Forward Bloc and the RSP if they contest the panchayat polls without us”.

He added that efforts were on to iron out the differences. “Being the biggest party, the CPM’s responsibility is greater in maintaining front unity.”

But he said it was up to the partners to respond favourably. “We are not sure what will be the final position regarding the panchayat polls. If they want to break up the Left Front, these parties will also break down,” Bose said.

The Bloc refused to review its decision to contest the polls alone while the RSP said it would decide at its forthcoming state conference. Both allies have been critical of the CPM’s industrialisation drive.

The CPM’s party reports betray its concerns over the likely reaction of farmers to land acquisition, saying the “enemy will try to weaken our… social base and the attack will intensify as the polls come nearer”.

Some delegates to the conference complained that the government and the party had been late in undoing the damage caused by indifference to minority development as revealed by the Sachar Committee. The chief minister said the government had failed to provide adequate information to the central panel.

Earlier, the party had tried to defend itself against the charge pointing to the benefits of land reforms Muslims were enjoying in the state.

However, the delegates said only one minority leader, Sheikh Isrial, has been inducted into the newly elected, 87-member state committee. This has taken the total number of minority members to six — which was described by a leader as “gross under-representation”.

Rama Biswas was the only woman among the 12 new faces in the panel, which has six other women members.