Calcutta, June 4: Jyoti Basu moved in once Forward Bloc veteran Ashok Ghosh threw up his hands apparently because of the state CPM leadership’s non-cooperation.

Basu spoke to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPM state secretary Biman Bose before engaging the party’s troubleshooter, housing minister Goutam Deb, to get in touch with Mamata Banerjee’s camp.

According to CPM sources, the build-up to Basu’s date with the Trinamul Congress chief began at the party state secretariat meeting last Friday. The 93-year-old leader had cautioned the meeting against derailing the all-party talks on Nandigram, the first round of which had hit a wall.

“He even hinted that he would not mind talking to Mamata if required. Later, he appealed to Mamata for an amicable settlement despite iterating our party’s unwillingness to describe the March 14 firing as genocide, which she had demanded,’’ a CPM state secretariat member said.

Alarmed at Mamata’s renewed belligerence in Singur yesterday — she threatened to go on a march with begging bowls in the state and outside to “expose the CPM-Tata nexus” and the party’s “misdeeds in Nandigram” — the CPM decided to give Basu the green signal.

“Since our allies handed back the baton for the peace move to our party at the Left Front meeting on Saturday, it was our responsibility to calm the political tension that Mamata was clearly trying to whip up in Singur on Sunday,” the CPM leader said.

CPM state secretariat member Benoy Konar said the initiative for the meeting had come from Basu, but it wasn’t against the party’s wishes.

“It’s a welcome step. We may not have discussed it in detail at the party state secretariat on Friday, but we fully support Jyotibabu’s initiative. After all, he has the stature of a statesman. He can take steps in the interest of the state as well as the party. Ego clashes should not hinder the prospect of industrialisation or the return of peace in Nandigram,” Konar said.

Both the CPM and Left Front feel Basu has carved out a niche as an “impartial, elderly leader”.

“His caution against haste in land acquisition, public expression of worries about violence in Nandigram and disapproval of the CPM counter-attacks from adjoining Khejuri as well as requests to all the warring sides for dialogue made him acceptable to the Opposition. Far from being embarrassed, the party wants to exploit his new stature,” a CPM leader said.

Deb had taken on the role of a troubleshooter last December as well, when he had negotiated with the Opposition leader in the Assembly, Partha Chatterjee, and others to end Mamata’s 26-day hunger strike over Singur.

Known to be close to Basu, the housing minister’s “hassle-free” land acquisition for the Rajarhat township has increased his credibility both within the party and outside. Unlike Basu’s other protégé, Subhas Chakraborty, the low-profile Deb is not known to be a loose cannon.

“Jyotibabu’s criticism of our mistakes in Singur and Nandigram were seconded by Deb in some of the secretariat meetings. But he also helped us strike a balance in positions,” a CPM leader said.