New Delhi, May 30: The Congress was cautious in reacting to today's CPM criticism of the informal alliance in Bengal but the Marxists' "blunt" statement prompted some party seniors to rue the Left's continuing "ivory tower" politics.
The CPM said the unofficial alliance with the Congress in Bengal ahead of the April-May Assembly polls had not been in keeping with the party line, which did not allow any understanding with the Congress.
To this, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi's reaction was: "Everybody can be wise with hindsight. We too can make comments, but what is the point? We should be graceful both in victory and defeat."
Prodded, Singhvi said: "I don't want to comment: we are not at war with them. There is no point indulging in a slanging match. But we should remember that such posturing helps the opposite forces and affects the chances of a joint front in the future."
C.P. Joshi, the Congress general secretary in charge of Bengal, refused to get into a debate with the CPM.
"It's their assessment - every political party is free to make its strategies. If they are having an internal political analysis, why should I poke my nose into it?" Joshi told The Telegraph.
Asked whether the Congress felt betrayed, he said: "It's their internal exercise, we have nothing to say."
The bland public responses, however, appeared to hide an intense anguish although a small Congress lobby too believes the Bengal experiment should have been avoided.
A senior party strategist, asking not to be quoted, said the Congress didn't believe that "aligning with the Left was a mistake".
"Ideologically, we don't have fundamental differences with them though there are disagreements on certain policies. We have worked together in the past," the senior politician said.
"It is for the CPM to shed its ivory tower mentality and see the ground realities. The Leftists have grappled with the question of an alliance with the Congress in the past. Now, under the extraordinary circumstances created by the Narendra Modi government, if they want to stick to their old 'equidistance' line, they are free to do that."
The CPM has said several times that it wants to keep an equal distance from the Congress and the BJP.
A Congress senior, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed his outrage unreservedly.
"The (CPM) politburo should have discussed these issues with its Bengal cadre before the election. More than the advantage of hindsight, it's the hypocrisy of the communist leadership that troubles us," he said.
"It's obvious they have not learnt lessons from history and remain disconnected from contemporary political realities. Are they listening to the new voices coming from their ranks ---- what Kanhaiya Kumar is saying?"
CPI-backed JNU student leader Kanhaiya, who has acquired a national profile since his arrest on sedition charges in February, has openly advocated a pan-India Congress-communist alliance to fight the BJP.
A young Congress politician said a handful of senior CPM leaders were to blame for the "myopic view" that sees the Congress and the BJP equally as enemies.
"Rahul (Gandhi) too was opposed to coalitions and advocated a go-alone strategy to reclaim the old Congress glory. But he realised the political situation was not ripe and quickly adjusted to the demands of electoral politics. He whole-heartedly favoured a grand alliance in Bihar," he said.
"We are convinced that a collective struggle is needed to resist the RSS takeover. We just learnt a bitter lesson in Assam. In Parliament, we coordinate with the Left on a daily basis.
"But the problem is that a section of the CPM leadership has a visceral hatred for the Congress. We can't force them to change if the force of circumstance has failed to change them. Let them dream of the day the common man will rise against bourgeois politics and offer them power on a platter."
