Calcutta, May 20: The CPM had been riddled by allegations of assault on Left Front partners, today a minister alleged slant.

Public Works Department minister Amar Chowdhury met chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and complained to him about remarks made by front chairman and CPM politburo member Biman Bose.

CPM cadre had chased Chowdhury out of Jeliakhali, a village in South 24-Parganas, when he went there to campaign for his party, the RSP. The minister was reportedly made to “run” for over a kilometre.

“Bimanbabu had slighted the incident of assault and said it was not possible for me to run for one-and-half kilometres. The question is not whether I ran for such a long stretch, the question is that the incident actually happened,” the PWD minister told Bhattacharjee today.

He also pointed out that the main accused in the FIR, Sarfez Ali, was yet to be arrested.

“The chief minister expressed regret that Ali had not been taken into custody and assured that he would talk to our party MLA in Sandeshkhali, Subhas Naskar, to know what steps the police had taken so far,” Chowdhury said after the meeting.

Purulia death

A Congress candidate for the panchayat election succumbed today to injuries he suffered on the day of the poll in Purulia, reports our correspondent.

Gunadhar Kumar, a candidate for the Taturiah gram panchayat in Jhalda 2 block, had challenged a CPM candidate for double voting when the party’s cadre thrashed him.