New Delhi:
The General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPM], Prakash Karat, has refused to discuss what American diplomats have said about the WikiLeaks embarrassments in West Bengal and Kerala for the left.
Mr Karat said the cables should be taken with a "pinch of salt".
"I will not discuss what American diplomats have said about my party. There are two parts to the cables - one factual as in date of meetings and the second is assessments and observations. We need not accept them. We should take them with a pinch of salt," Mr Karat said while addressing a press conference.
Mr Karat's comments come after the Left has been embarrassed by recent disclosures by whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
Among them is a cable on the then West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee telling the US treasury secretary Paulson that he is keen on US investment in the state.
The cable also quotes Mr Bhattacharjee as saying that unless the Communist parties reform themselves, they will wither away. Mr Bhattacharjee has denied these comments.
In further embarrassment for the CPM, another cable reveals how the party's top leaders in Kerala met US officials in August 2008 to woo foreign investment to the state which opponents said was a classic case of doublespeak.