"Humbly accepting" the people's verdict in the West Bengal Assembly polls, the Left Front on Friday said it had failed to gauge the mood to the call for paribartan (change) given by the Trinamool Congress.
"We did not understand that the people had accepted the slogan of paribartan," Left Front chairman Biman Bose told a joint press conference by Front leaders at the Communist Party of India-Marxist headquarters in Kolkata.
"We have grassroot attachment with the people but they did not speak out and as such we could not assess the situation," he said.
When asked if the Front had not learnt any lesson from its continuing losses since the 2008 panchayat polls, Bose said, "We have to apply our mind that despite lessons from earlier losses, how such a debacle could occur. The results were unexpected. But we will co-operate with any pro-people and democratic move by the new government."
A joint statement issued by outgoing Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Bose earlier said, "The LF humbly accepts the verdict of the people and promises to play the role of a responsible and constructive Opposition in the Assembly.
Bose said, "On Thursday we had predicted a comfortable win for the Left Front on the basis of analysis in the leadership, but we have been proved wrong." He had Thursday said the Front would win nearly 200 seats in the 294-member Assembly. It was able to win just around 60 seats.
"The Front will sit together and discuss the results. Ascertaining the reasons for the loss can be made after threadbare analysis," Bose said.
On whether he would resign as the Front chairman, accepting responsibility for the poll debacle, Bose said, "We have not assessed the defeat yet, so, I cannot satisfy you."
He said the Left parties were not born to remain in power always, adding, "Left parties wage struggle for the people and it will continue with it."
Asked about Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's loss by over 16,000 votes to political debutante Manish Gupta, he said, "When other candidates have been defeated, he as a candidate has been defeated."
