Calcutta, May 13: CPM leader Lakhsman Seth today said the CRPF was not required in Nandigram, but the government said it had no plans to withdraw the paramilitary.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had asked for the CRPF to contain the spiral of violence in Nandigram last November.

However, the Tamluk MP said: “The CRPF was neither needed earlier nor today. They had been deployed because of the Maoist presence in Nandigram. The rebels are not there now.”

Asked if he wants the CRPF withdrawn, Seth said: “It’s for the government to take the decision. I give my opinion if I asked for.”

Home secretary A.M. Chakrabarti said: “The government has no plan to pull out the CRPF after the polls.”

Seth was caught on record ordering CRPF officer Alok Raj to stay put in his camp during polling in Nandigram on Sunday. Raj had asserted that the MP had no authority to tell him what to do.

Chakrabarti claimed the Centre had not sought any report on the standoff.

Seth said he had been assured by the home secretary earlier that the CRPF would not be used for the panchayat polls.