“The Revolutionary Socialist Party has adopted a stance which is harmful for Left unity nationally and for the strengthening of the Left Front in West Bengal. The decision taken at its recent central committee meeting and utterances of some of its leaders like Kshiti Goswami and Abani Roy indicate this trend,” said an unsigned article in the latest issue of CPM mouthpiece People’s Democracy.

“There is no harm in striving to broaden the Left Front. But how does the RSP propose to go about it? The RSP leadership stated at the press conference that they are inviting parties like SUCI, Naxalites and Maoists... In West Bengal alone, more than 30 cadres of the CPM have been killed by the Maoist gangs in the last two years,” said the article.

The article observed that SUCI had an alliance with Trinamool Congress at the recent panchayat polls and asked the RSP, “Is that what qualifies them for attending the conclave? Does the RSP consider such an alliance characteristic of a Left party?”

“So the reasoning is clear. According to this ‘revolutionary socialist’, the TC is not a reactionary party but the CPM cannot be called a Left party. From this, one can gather that the RSP leader tacitly approves what the SUCI has done. It is this absurd dialectic which governs the call for a conclave,” said the article, attacking Goswami for saying he “refused to believe that Mamata Banerjee heads a reactionary party. Singur or Nandigram, she tried to support the issues we fought for.”

“Abani Roy, in his anxiety to demarcate from the CPM, has crossed all borders of political decorum... For Goswami and Roy, the Maoists are the real Left. For the former the CPM is not a Left party and for the latter the CPM leaders are more evil than life-long capitalists. The CPM should presumably still be grateful, that it is at least being invited,” said the article sarcastically.

Pointing to the fact that Roy, who was party to Left Front’s call for general strike against petrol price hike, had condemned the use of “intimidation” to enforce a bandh on June 5, it said: “Can there be a more hypocritical and deceitful position than this?...One can understand political criticism and different views expressed by the RSP, but such low level tactics do not behove the leader of a party who is a partner in the Left Front.”

In a conciliatory note, the article said the CPM was ready to discuss all political and policy questions with its Left Front partners to iron out differences and strengthen Left unity.