Bardhan's posturing against the CPM stems from the fact that after the rout he came under immense fire from his party colleagues from Bengal and Kerala for playing second fiddle to his CPM counterpart Prakash Karat. They had argued that the CPI failed to assert its individual existence and has been relegated as a 'B' team of the CPM.

The CPI veteran said in future the relationship in the Left Front will be based on "equality". There will be "mutual discussion and mutual respect and collective discussions on all important issues," he said. Identifying the factors that led to the defeat in Kerala and Bengal, he said the approach of the Left Front governments to the people cannot be called as "Communist approach" as the people in authority practised "bossism" which alienated the people.