"The Prime Minister is free to choose words he would use. But to use such language, is it correct?" asked party Politburo member Brinda Karat while talking to reporters about Singh's remark that the Left wanted him to ‘behave like a bonded slave’.

"Then where is the question of dignity of PMO," she queried.

Noting that Singh became the Prime Minister with Left support, she said that ‘If he took our support, why is he saying this now?’

Criticising another comment of Singh that the CPM should ponder over ‘miscalculations’ by ‘their general secretary’, she noted that the party has a different political culture in comparison to other parties.

"The stand taken by the general secretary (Prakash Karat) of our party is determined by the Politburo and the Central Committee. The role of an individual in our party is strengthened by a democratic culture. It is collective," she said.