"After giving false hopes to people of establishing a socialist system, the current shift in stand will result in a polarisation in the Left movement," he said in a statement here.

The ideological shift was part of the "disaster" faced by the Communist movement globally, he said.

The argument that capitalism was needed for development, first mooted by Bhattacharjee and later supported by Basu, had become a hot topic of debate in the Left-ruled Kerala.

The Left Front partners in West Bengal, CPI and RSP had reacted strongly against the statements, Chennithala said.

West Bengal government had fired bullets at innocent villagers at Nandigram to "protect" imperialists and capitalists, he alleged.