Calcutta, May 26: CPM general secretary Prakash Karat today asked Bengal party leaders to analyse the factors behind the rural poll setback and overcome them as fast as possible to gear up for the next battle — the Lok Sabha elections.

“The general elections may be held in six to eight months. We have to analyse the factors that helped the Opposition gain ground in rural Bengal and address our drawbacks fast,’’ a CPM state committee member quoted Karat as saying.

The two-day state committee meeting was convened to conduct a “preliminary review” of the election results.

The Left Front lost two zilla parishads — Nandigram-scarred East Midnapore and South 24-Pqrganas, across the Hooghly — to the Trinamul Congress and one — North Dinajpur — to the Congress. The Opposition also made significant inroads in Left bastions North 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Nadia, posing a threat to the Left in at least 14 Lok Sabha seats.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who addressed the meeting this morning, admitted like many leaders from the districts that the “fear of losing land and the confusion over land acquisition” had taken a heavy toll on party’s rural support.

“The people have not rejected us but given us a warning. We have to learn our lessons and take people into confidence while pursing industrialisation,’’ a participant quoted Bhattacharjee as saying.

Karat stressed on “confidence-building measures among farmers” while sticking to “the goal of industrialisation”.

At the recent Coimbatore congress of the party, Karat had backed Bengal’s industrialisation drive but said: “We must be all the more careful on largescale land acquisition.”

Today, Karat also mentioned the party’s “inability to address the grievances of the Muslims, which became more credible” after the Sachar Committee brought forth the lack development and opportunities for Muslims in Left-ruled Bengal.

“He (Karat) also felt that the party didn’t take adequate notice of the ration riots in which people attacked our leaders for having nexus with corrupt ration dealers,” said another leader said.

Karat hinted that the setback in Bengal would impact the CPM in national politics. “The party’s movements in other states would also be affected. So it is vital for the entire party to know exactly what went wrong,’’ a Bengal CPM leader quoted Karat as saying.