Shell-shocked by its dismal performance in the state assembly elections, the Communist Party of India-Marxist  will soon hold a Politburo meeting to consider the reasons behind its massive debacle.

"The results have given us a jolt and the politburo would meet as soon as possible to go into the causes of our loss in the assembly elections," Communist Party of India General Secretary A B Bardhan said in an informal conversation with rediff.com. This would be followed by the meeting of central committee sometimes next month.

"We accept the people's verdict," said politburo member Sitaram Yechuri, while addressing media persons outside CPM headquarters in A K Gopalan Bhavan in New Delhi.

According to senior party leaders, the top brass of the party were overconfident, and those who suggested positive changes in the party's outlook were ignored.

Gautam Dev is one such member. "Singur and Nandigram became international issues and the party leadership took their time to apologise to the people. The farmers whose land was acquired by the Bengal government to set up a factory in Singur were beaten up, fired upon and killed," he said.

"Instead of taking remedial measures, the party top brass was adamant to allow an individual industrialist to go ahead with the project. This is where Mamta Banerjee entered the scene and she turned it around to her advantage. This is no point in crying over split milk," a senior leader of the party told rediff.com.

On Thursday, central committee member Nilotpal Basu had told rediff.com that Mamta has given them a tough fight, but the party would return to power. His point of view was 
echoed by Biman Bose as well.

But late night developments and discussions among senior leaders gave them enough hints that they were fighting a losing battle. Perhaps the reason why no senior leader visited the party headquarters soon after it became known that it was losing the CPM bastion.

Party General Secretary Prakash Karat and his wife Vrinda Karat were the only ones present at the party office near Gol Market in the heart of the capital.

They had left strict instructions that under no circumstances the media persons would be allowed anywhere near them. Party cadre was conspicuous by its absence. Apparently, the loklahar had turned into a shoklahar.