We have sent a letter, admitting our mistakes. He (Subhas) did not do the right thing and he also feels that

What chief minister? Who asked you to come to me? The chief minister? Go to whoever has told you

Calcutta, April 5: The CPM apologised to the Election Commission. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the comments were a mistake.

But Subhas Chakraborty, the transport minister who called state government officials now doing duty for the Election Commission “stooges”, reacted angrily.

“What chief minister? Who asked you to come to me? The chief minister? Go to whoever has told you,” he told the 24-hour Bengali news channel STAR Ananda, which sought his reaction to Bhattacharjee’s comments.

In an interview to the channel earlier, the chief minister had said: “He (Subhas) did not do the right thing and he also feels that now.”

Chakraborty himself has apologised to the panel, as has the CPM in separate letters.

That, however, has not stopped the poll watchdog from filing a police complaint against Chakraborty, accusing him of trying to “intimidate” its officials.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, who had met election officials yesterday, and Bhattacharjee confirmed that letters had been sent to the commission.

Karat did not say if it was a letter of apology, sounding a little distraught that the panel had decided to act independent of the response from the CPM which it had sought.

Asked if the party had apologised, he said: “We have given a reply. (But) What is the meaning of our reply because they (EC) have already taken action.”

Bengal’s chief electoral officer Debasish Sen filed the complaint against Chakraborty today at Lake Town police station.

The chief minister admitted having told the commission Chakraborty’s remarks had been a mistake.

“We have sent a letter to the election commission, admitting our mistakes,” he said in the interview.

Karat had asked Chakraborty also to write a letter, expressing regret. The minister is believed to have sent a three-line letter to the EC, saying that it had not been his intention to hurt election officials.

“I express my regret if they were hurt. I did not do that intentionally.”

Although the CPM leadership might be boiling inside at some of the steps the commission has taken, it does not wish to allow the Chakraborty-triggered controversy to degenerate into a crisis.