Kolkata, Sep 25 (IANS): Hinting that Leftist parties in West Bengal should consider a change of guard, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee Wednesday said sports coaches get sacked if their team fails to perform.

"Leftist politics in the state has gone weak. I appeal to the Left parties to undertake a review. The future is important, and not power," he said.

"At every level, success depends on the general, captain or leader. I have seen in sports that coaches get the boot if the team fails to perform. Something like that needs to be done," said Chatterjee.

The former CPI-M leader spoke a day after the Left Front was drubbed in the civic polls in the state.

The Left Front won only one municipality while the ruling Trinamool Congress bagged eight and the Congress two.

Chatterjee was a front-ranking Communist Party of India-Marxist leader for decades until he was expelled from the party in 2008.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a programme here, Chatterjee said: "To safeguard their interests, we need real Left politics. But this politics has weakened."

The Left Front ruled the state for 34 years since 1977 before it was voted out in 2011.