After skipping three politburo meets, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is set to attend the fifth meeting of the CPM’s highest policy-making body to be held in Delhi Sunday next.

This will be the second politburo meeting the CM will attend after the drubbing his party CPM received in the Lok Sabha polls held early this year.

Bhattacharjee is to leave for New Delhi on Saturday but his return will depend on his scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources said.

CPM sources said the CM, upbeat after the Siliguri experiment, will drive home the message that the Congress is not untouchable for the CPM in Bengal. Backed by state CPM secretary Biman Bose, Bhattacharjee will push Siliguri experiment for politburo’s approval, sources added.

After the CM skipped three politburo meetings, speculation was rife he had fallen out with CPM general secretary Prakash Karat. But a senior CPM leader said today the two leaders have buried the hatchet. “Karat met Buddhadeb to break the ice more than once after which the chief minister was back to his normal functioning.”