Calcutta, May 25: Land acquisition punched an outlet through which pent-up discontent in rural Bengal burst forth and it should not be seen as the sole reason for the poor performance of the CPM in the panchayat polls, several party leaders told a review today.

The first session of the two-day sitting of the CPM state committee, attended by general secretary Prakash Karat, ended with Jyoti Basu publicly dismissing Mamata Banerjee’s demand to return 400 acres allegedly acquired without consent from farmers in Singur for the Tata Motors plant.

“I don’t know how it would be possible. If the land is re- turned, how will the factory be built?” Basu asked, emerging from the party meeting.

“If they (Trinamul) want to stop the construction of the factory by sabotage, the people of the state and the country will realise that they don’t want progress,” he added.

Basu had once toyed with Mamata’s proposal to return land after she had called on him at his home last year. However, the veteran leader changed his mind after chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and industries minister Nirupam Sen briefed him on the policy to compensate and rehabilitate landlosers.

Today, Basu iterated what Bhattacharjee had offered earlier: “They (the Opposition) better discuss the compensation with the government.”

However, he did not conceal his disappointment at the loss of three zilla parishads and the impressive show by the Opposition in at least six south Bengal districts.

Admitting the erosion in the CPM’s rural base, Basu said: “We have to bring back those who have deserted us and voted against us.”

State party secretary Biman Bose told the committee the CPM had got around 50 per cent seats in gram panchayats, compared with 68 per cent in 2003.

State committee leaders who spoke made it clear that the party bore the brunt of Singur and Nandigram and the resultant fear and discontent among farmers stoked by the Opposition.

“While pursuing industrialisation, we paid the price for tactical mistakes. It was a mixture of administrative high-handedness, lack of political skill, failure to convince farmers and counter the Opposition campaign,” said a state committee member.

District leaders said the Opposition parties had distributed among voters CDs showing the March 14 police firing in Nandigram and the violence during the CPM’s recapture of the area in November.

But most leaders felt that the land row alone was not responsible for the blows. “It blew the lid off pent-up anger and grievances over malfunctioning panchayats and corruption and high-handless of party functionaries. We failed to take notice of the ration riots in the districts a few months ago,” a member said.

Most mentioned the erosion in Muslim support. “The Sachar committee report provided credibility to the community’s grievances regarding discrimination and lack of opportunities in employment and education. The community, which comprises 27 per cent of the state’s population, was sending enough signals of its mood but we failed to pick them up,” a central committee member said.

The failure to strike seat-sharing deals with the front partners at the grassroots cast the die, party leaders said.

Karat is likely to address the committee tomorrow, when the party might discuss the formation of a new secretariat. Sources said transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, land minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah and former MLA Rabin Deb might find places in the party’s highest state-level decision-making body.

Three posts in the secretariat fell vacant following the death of former secretary Anil Biswas and former Citu president Chittabrata Mazumder.

Former labour minister Mohammed Amin has been elevated to the politburo from the state secretariat.

The RSP state committee today decided to demand changes in the industrial policy at its meeting with the CPM brass tomorrow. The Left Front is meeting on Tuesday.