Less than a week after veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Jyoti Basu promised jobs, the party announced another bonanza Monday prior to the assembly polls, saying the Left Front government in West Bengal would try to distribute 1.53 crore Below Poverty Line cards in the state.

State secretary of CPI-M Anil Biswas told reporters that BPL cards would be distributed in the next seven weeks as the Supreme Court had permitted an eight week relaxation for BPL card distribution in a case.

The CPI-M also sought to clear 'confusion' over the state government's plan to recruit teachers and fill up vacancies in government offices.

Replying to a question on recruitments, Biswas said, "Either the media is distorting the truth about recruitment or we are presenting the facts in an imperfect manner."

His statement came a few days after controversy was triggered by Jyoti Basu at a recent meeting of the CPI-M-dominated state government employees where he had announced the sops.

Basu had said last week that the West Bengal government would recruit thousands of youths in various departments, including in aided schools.

There were at present 80,000 vacancies in state government offices of which it had been decided to fill up 17,000 to 18,000.

Besides about 20,000 to 25,000 teachers were required to be appointed, Basu had said.

The CPI-M state secretary said that 16,000 para teachers would be recruited as their contract for two years for the implementation of universalisation of education programme had expired and there were vacancies for 11,000 regular teachers.

The opposition Trinamool Congress and Congress had accused Basu of staging a "brazen electoral gimmick".

CPI-M also summoned all its ministers to the state party headquarters to take stock of the work by various departments in preparation for the assembly polls.

The CPI-M state secretariat, the policy-making body of the state unit of the party, identified areas where the ministers should concentrate for the next few months ahead of the polls.

The main thrust of the work was rural development through panchayats and municipalities and improvement of agricultural inputs through uninterrupted supply of irrigated water and power.