Calcutta, June 16 :     Concerned at the escalating feuding in the party, chief minister Jyoti Basu today urged the warring factions to refrain from splitting the state CPM. 'I request you and others not to break up the party for the growth of which many of us worked a lifetime,' Basu is believed to have told transport minister Subhas Chakraborty at a meeting in the morning. Chakraborty, who has been campaigning for democracy in the party, recently raised some leaders' hackles by accusing the Left Front government of doing nothing for daily wage earners. State party secretary Anil Biswas had reacted to the statement saying Chakraborty had no business continuing in the ministry. Sources close to Chakraborty said the dissident leader ventilated grievances to Basu against the party bosses who, he said, were trying to stymie his progress. Basu said: 'He (Subhas) came to me to explain why he reacted the way he did to Anil (Biswas)'s statement. I told him that they (Subhas and Anil) should desist from making such statements.' Taking a cue as though from the leadership's position, Biswas mad some sort of a climbdown today as he described Chakraborty as 'one of our most mature leaders who knows what to say and when to say it.' Chakraborty, however, stuck to his demand for greater inner-party democracy. 'Our slogan for socialism can no longer attract the youth. Marx might have been relevant a hundred years back, but society has changed. So, his doctrine is not applicable in the changed socio-political scenario,' he said, not for the first time. At the centre of a storm, Chakraborty appears to be keeping his options open on joining hands with Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee. 'She is still one of my political opponents, but nobody is untouchable in politics. A turn in politics depends on the situation that prevails. I cannot forecast what will happen in the future. Perhaps nothing will happen, but something big may also occur.' Chakraborty's renewed call for democracy in the party is expected to spark fresh controversy, coming as it does so soon after his criticism of the government. Asked what he would do if the leadership takes action against him, he said: 'Let the party take a decision. I am mentally prepared to obey whatever it decides.' At the CPM headquarters in Alimuddin Street, Biswas reaffirmed that there was no question of pressing Chakraborty for resignation. 'The issue (Chakraborty) may be discussed at a meeting of the state committee, the date for which is yet to be fixed,' he said. The transport minister defended his criticism of the government about failing to lift the living standards of 30 lakh workers in the unorganised sector. 'We have come to power with their votes, but most of the state government's plans and programmes have benefited only the rich and middle classes,' he said. Chakraborty asserted that he would continue to support property developers as they provide work to nearly four lakh people every day. 'There are laws to take care of unscrupulous promoters,' he said. Asked to elaborate on his slogan of 'greater democracy,' the transport minister said: 'We have not taken any lesson from the disintegration of the Soviet Union. There is no point in trying to pull up a ship which has already sunk.' Explaining his stand, Chakraborty said: 'I have been raising my voice in the party to make its programmes more realistic. People want immediate relief and cannot wait for the advent of socialism for an indefinite period.' 'Our party leaders want socialism, but all their activities veer round parliamentary democracy with a view to capturing power from the panchayats to Parliament,' he said. 'All this leads to fights over tickets, factionalism and strange political alliances. Is it not then better to give up the slogan for socialism and replace it with one for parliamentary politics? I hate this kind of dichotomy,' Chakraborty said.