KOLKATA: Could the unthinkable happen in West Bengal? The CPM, which derives its disproportionately large presence in Indian politics from West Bengal and Kerala (having lost Tripura to BJP), could be staring at annihilation.Mohammed Salim, contesting from Raiganj, may be its best shot to avoid a duck. In Jadavpur, CPM’s Bikash Bhattacharya is expected to put up a fight, though the anti-TMC vote there may be split with BJP, which has a growing presence in this constituency. In Diamond Harbour , Fuad Halim is expected to be runner-up to Mamata Banerjee ’s controversial nephew, Abhishek Banerjee Old-timers who feel a degree of comfort with CPM are reluctant to admit this possibility. How is it possible that a political combine that dominated West Bengal like a hegemon for 34 years be reduced to this?In March this year, CPM received a jolt when its MLA from Habibpur Malda, Khagen Murmu, moved over to BJP and is now its candidate for Malda North. Unlike other parties, CPM members don’t switch political loyalties easily.The CPM headquarters in Alimuddin Street was deserted this week, a sharp contrast to the past. Driving through suburbs or even rural Bengal, its hard to find CPM election promotions, the walls and hoardings taken up by the flower power of BJP or Trinamool. Local news channels quoted CPM workers, whose job is to paste the party newspaper Ganashakti on walls, admitting to working for BJP.Last week, former CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya cautioned his party members to avoid jumping into the BJP “fire”.“There is that danger. Some inroads have been made. We must change these situations. Is it a good idea to jump from the Trinamool frying pan into the BJP fire?" Bhattacharya asked, somewhat rhetorically.Even Congress expects that it will, at the worst, hold on to the four seats it has, while harbouring a faint hope for a possible rise in the tally. But not CPM.Mridul De, central committee member of CPM, asserted that the party would improve its position from the current tally of two ( Murshidabad and Raiganj), but seemed to be confident more about an increase in vote share than an improved seat score. In a chat with TOI at the party headquarters, he said, “Our vote will increase, we are moving in a systematic and sustained way.” He added that the party had “reviewed our weaknesses” after the 2014 debacle.He attributed the 2011 state election loss to a coming together of Maoists, RSS and Congress. In sharp contrast to the high decibel battle between TMC and BJP in West Bengal, De argued, “These two have made an understanding with each other in many seats.”Needless to add, nobody actually agrees with this given BJP’s stated intention is to remove TMC from Bengal.“The two parties practise competitive communalism,” De said. “From 2014, RSS has increased its presence in West Bengal. In the past couple of years, we are seeing numerous small communal incidents.”The CPM leader added, “Under Mamata Banerjee, the TMC government had filed over 84,000 fabricated cases against our cadres.”