Maintaining that Basu's remarks were on the nature of apitalist development in West Bengal and the role of the Left Front government, party General Secretary Prakash Karat said "on the basis of these reports, some political leaders have also come out with equally confused and misplaced reactions."

"Only those ignorant of the programme of the CPIM can talk of the Party saying 'goodbye to socialism and welcome to apitalism'," he said.

Basu had been quoted last week as saying "we want capital, both foreign and domestic. After all we are working in a capitalist system. Socialism is not possible now."

The nonagenarian leader had said "socialism is our political agenda... but capitalism will continue to be the compulsion for the future." He had pointed out that CPM-led governments existed in only three states of India and asked "can we say we will establish socialism on this basis?"

Reacting to criticism by political parties as well as CPM partner RSP, Karat said, for BJP and Congress socialism only denotes a slogan to be used as a "smokescreen" to promote the interests of big capitalists and foreign finance capital.