Bhagat Singh confessed proudly that he was a follower of Marxist philosophy and an atheist.
By Geetartha Pathak
The Leftist ideology continues to influence the working class, farmers, social activists, political leaders and artistes, including great revolutionaries during and after the Independence movement. Bhagat Singh confessed proudly that he was a follower of Marxist philosophy and an atheist.
Even Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who was termed by the British as the ‘Father of the Indian unrest’, and the great Congress leader Bipin Chandra Pal were greatly influenced by the Leftist ideology. The ideology became an alternative to the Gandhian philosophy of peace during the Independence movement. The rise and fall of the Leftist forces and their influence on the masses in our country need subtle analysis to understand the sociopolitical trend of society.
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India (CPI) emerged as the first major opposition party in India in the 1952 general elections securing 16 out of 401 seats. In 1957, it attained a historic electoral victory by forming the world’s first democratically elected communist government in Kerala.
The CPI had to go through a crucial test during the Indo-China War, where they faced a dilemma between their loyalty to Communism and supporting their own country. The Indian National Congress exploited this dilemma to counter the Communists. In 1962, just before the beginning of the Indo-China War, the CPI, the then undivided Communist party, became the main opposition party securing 27 seats in the Lok Sabha. In the 1967 elections too, the CPI managed to secure 29 seats. The role of the Left in the Indo-China War did not affect the strength of the Left in Parliament.
Rising Challenges
The Indian National Congress is largely a centre-left party with a focus on non-violence and democracy, though violations of fundamental rights, curb on freedom of speech and suppression of democratic movements happened during its rule. This legacy of the Indian National Congress made it challenging for Left parties to gain mass acceptance of the people. The economic reforms brought in by the Congress government in 1990 shifted the focus towards liberalisation and globalisation. This shift was a big challenge to the Left which advocated for maximum state control of the economy. The traditional approaches of the Communists no longer attracted people.
The emergence of caste-based parties after the Mandal era posed another challenge to the Left. The rise of parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) shifted the focus from real issues and the Left forces were sidelined. With the shift in social dynamics in the country, including urbanisation, growing aspirations of the middle class and a spurt in privatisation, the influence of the Communists, which usually focus on class struggle and peasant workers’ rights, declined even in its strongholds. The refusal to make Jyoti Basu the prime ministerial candidate during the coalition era and withdrawal of support to the government in 2008 on the issue of nuclear deals are criticised as two big faux pas of the Communists in India.
Flawed Strategies
The other criticisms against the Left parties are mainly for their incorrect electoral strategies, alliances with other political parties and rigid ideological approaches. In some cases, they have failed to adapt to changing socio-political dynamics and have been unable to widen their views beyond certain corners. The global decline of the Leftist forces, the fall of the Soviet union and the makeover of communist China into a global economic giant have also had an impact on the prospect and relevance of the Leftist ideology in India.
The decline of the Left in Indian politics can be attributed to multiple factors: inability to adapt to the right-wing, ultra-nationalist swing in politics in the country. Social differences, ethnicity, caste and religion predominantly determine the sociopolitical ecology in India. The Left often aggravates this division by subsuming all other forms of identity under one’s political affiliation.
West Bengal, the bastion of the red, fell to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2011 and has remained there. The result of the Lok Sabha election 2009 where the Left secured only 15 seats, predicted the fall of the 34-year-long rule of the Left in West Bengal. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Left could not win even a single seat.
While Communist parties have had limited success at the national level, it is undeniable that they have been instrumental in advocating for the marginalised section
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opened its account in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections by winning the Darjeeling seat. After 2009, in the last three successive Lok Sabha elections, the Left went blank. On the other hand, the BJP slowly made inroads in the State by winning 2 seats with 10.88 per cent votes in 2014. The tally for the saffron party jumped to 18 in 2019 with 40.25 per cent of the total votes. The CPI(M)’s share of votes of 29.71 per cent in 2014 came down to just 6.28 per cent in the 2019 general elections. Inspired by the success in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP concentrated its activities and did sufficient groundwork to get maximum seats in West Bengal in the recently held parliamentary elections.
The Decline
From 59 seats in 2004 to only 5 seats (4 in Tamil Nadu and 1 in Kerala) in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the frustration further continued in the 2024 elections with 7 seats [CPI(M) – 4, CPI – 2 and CPI(ML)L – 2]. On the contrary, the setback for Left parties has coincided with a spectacular gain for the BJP in Left’s traditional bastions. This decline of the Left coincides with the rise of right-wing nationalist parties, particularly the BJP, which has strategically led to the erosion of other political parties by poaching their prominent leaders, particularly of the Congress. However, the Left has suffered the most.
In Tripura, where the Left once ruled the State for 25 long years, the BJP has made significant inroads in this tiny State. The BJP bagged both the Lok Sabha seats with an increase in the vote share in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP and CPI(M) secured 49.03 per cent and 17.31 per cent respectively in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In 2024, the BJP increased its vote share to 70.72 per cent and the CPI(M)’s share further reduced to 12.44 per cent in Tripura. In Kerala, though the Left and the Democratic Front (LDF) have been in power since 2016, its seats in Lok Sabha reduced from 8 in 2014 to only one in 2019. In 2024, it secured just one seat.
While the Communist parties have had limited success at the national level in India, it is undeniable that the Left parties continue to play a significant role in certain States and at the national level. They have been instrumental in advocating for the marginalised section of people. Their influence and relevance vary depending on the sociopolitical development at the national and regional levels. With all its shortcomings, a feeble voice of the Left does not augur well for the country.
(The author is a senior journalist from Assam)