Calcutta, Aug. 28 :     Having taken over the reins of the troubled state Congress, Pranab Mukherjee failed to cut much ice with the dissidents on the first day. Disgruntled MLAs Abdul Mannan and Shankar Singh, who belong to the pro-mahajot lobby, complained about the new chief's lack of firmness to curb the CPM onslaught. 'In his first meeting with us, Pranabbabu failed to speak firmly against the CPM. What he said was traditional. There was no talk of building agitational movements specifically against the CPM ... People of Bengal want an anti-CPM movement ... There is no point denying it,' a dissident MLA said after a closed-door meeting Mukherjee had with legislators at the Assembly. Aware that strengthening the state unit was an uphill task, he reportedly compared his situation with that of Mao Ze Dong. 'He (Mao) too did not have many followers behind him when he began the long march,' Mukherjee told the MLAs. Altogether 43 MLAs, including a sizeable chunk of dissidents, and MP Adhir Chowdhury attended the meeting. Fifteen legislators, including Somen Mitra, Sultan Ahmed, Paresh Pal, Abul Basar Laskar, Sital Sardar, Tapas Banerjee, Anupam Sen, Deokinandan Poddar and Rajesh Khaitan, stayed away. A former state Congress chief, Mitra was, however, present at the PCC office to greet Mukherjee. Some of the MLAs who were absent, like Ahmed and Laskar, have almost made up their minds to join the Trinamul Congress. Others like Poddar and Khaitan received the intimation regarding the meeting late. Dissidents also accused Mukherjee of being ambiguous about the rise of the Trinamul in West Bengal. 'Pranabbabu accepted that Mamata Banerjee's party was the major anti-Left force and even said she could become the next chief minister. But, at the same time, he questioned the stability of such a government,' said a dissident. Speaking to reporters, Mukherjee said it was natural to have dissidents in a big party like the Congress. 'If there is no dissension in a party like the Congress, then it tends to lack uniformity,' he said. Replying to a question, he said that the CPM government had failed to tackle the 'reign of terror' in the state. Asked what he felt about the imposition of Article 365 in West Bengal, Mukherjee indicated that it would be difficult for the Centre to do so. 'How can one try for reservation of a train which will not arrive at all ?' he asked. Mukherjee will meet leaders from 12 districts during the next two days. On August 31, he will meet the secretariat.