The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) has expressed desire to rally all the left- wing and democratic forces in the country again after its debacle in the local legislative election in the state of West Bengal in May last year, said CPI-M sources Thursday.

At a on-going four-day party conference here since Wesnesday, the CPI-M has been discussing its future agenda for the first time in three decades when it held a meeting as an opposition party of India.

CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said on Wednesday he feels the political situation in the country is not ripe enough for creation of a third front at national level. "We have to strengthen the unity of the Left forces in the country. We have to carry on the movement against all odds by keeping in view a Left democratic alternative, but we should never think this alternative as a third front as we are not fighting for the creation of a third front," Karat said in his address at the party's 23rd state conference here, according to politburo member Nirupam Sen.

Sen told a press conference that Karat stressed on joint movement in other states with secular democratic forces based on issues and electoral alliance, if needed.

Asked if the illusion of a third front led by the CPI-M was over, Sen said: "It is not a question of the illusion being over. What we feel is that in present situation there is no reality in creating a third front. We have this in our political resolution also."

The state conference will review the deficiencies and the lacuna in the party functioning that led to the defeat of the CPI- M-led Left Front in last year's state assembly polls after 34 years of uninterrupted rule in West Bengal.

Acting as a platform for introspection in the largest Communist Party in the country, it will conclude with the selection of a new state committee.

Sen said that Karat also noted the party needs "to use the opportunity to organizing the mass movements using the anger of the working class against the government".

"But in order to do that, we have to rectify our mistakes and win back those people who have left us," Karat stressed.

Sen, who was also the industries minister during the Left Front regime, said there was no doubt within the party regarding the need for industrialisation in the state but agreed that there has been deficiencies in dealing with the grievances of the farmers regarding land acquisition.