Calcutta, April 11: Jyoti Basu appears to be getting conflicting signals from the party. While the leadership is unwilling to let him retire, it is not ready to let him dictate terms on plans and policies.

The powerful state secretariat criticised Basu today for publicly lobbying for the inclusion of his protégé Subhas Chakraborty in the party central committee and secretariat.

Basu had got an inkling of the displeasure of the apparatchiks at Alimuddin street and AKG Bhavan in Delhi. So, he called journalists for self-criticism before the weekly secretariat meeting this morning.

“I should not have said what I said about Subhas. It was against the party’s discipline. What I can say inside the party cannot be told outside,” Basu said before entering the party office.

Normally, he reacts to reporters’ questions after the weekly meeting.

He repeated his remarks at the end of the meeting. “My public comments were not right from the point of view of party discipline. I have made it known to the secretariat, too.”

Basu, however, made it clear that he would continue to root for Subhas. “What I said about Subhas was correct. But I shouldn’t have told it to you.”

He had said on Tuesday that Chakraborty deserved berths in both panels and that he would talk to the leadership on that.

The public expression of Basu’s expectations had provoked Chakraborty to dare the party to take action against his mentor if it felt he had violated discipline. “Lenin had said it was justified to go to the people if the party does not listen to repeated pleas,” Chakraborty said.

Chakraborty’s statement had alarmed those opposed to his elevation in the party, like general secretary Prakash Karat and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.