Kolkata, Feb 6 (IANS): Expressing confidence that the poor people who had veered away from the CPI-M would return to its fold, former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has said that his party would put up candidates with good image in the coming panchayat (rural body) polls.

"We will field candidates with good local acceptability, good image," Bhattacharjee said in an interview with a Bengali news channel ABP Ananda Tuesday.

Bhattacharjee said his party has taken lessons from its defeat in the state assembly polls two years back.

"We have held marathon discussions analysing the causes that led to our debacle. We have identified the reasons.

"In acquiring land for industries, we should have been more careful in one or two cases. There was unwarranted interference in public life," said the former chief minister.

"Some of our men should have refrained from playing the guardian in their localities. There was no reason for the CPI-M to get involved in every institution," he said.

Bhattacharjee said that despite the tough times, the Left Front led by his party secured 1.95 crore votes, which was only 35 lakh votes less than the Trinamool-led Front.

"Now if 15-20 lakh people come back into our fold, the table will upturn. We are confident that we will be able to bring back the poor people, who have had bitter experiences with the present government," Buddhadeb said.

After ruling the state for 34 years at a stretch, the Left bowed out of office in 2011 after suffering a severe drubbing at the hands of the Trinamool-led front.