Decline and fall of the left forces in Indian parliamentary politics , grapes of political follies and ‘historic blunders’
By Our Correspondent
Agartala, May 4, 2026
The decline and fall of the left forces in India’s electoral landscape , as evident from the outcomes of the polls in five state assemblies in as many states, raises pertinent questions on the efficacy of the left ideology, policy and programmes . As things stand at this stage of counting of ballots the left front headed by the CPI (M) may end up securing two assembly seats at the most in West Bengal’s 294-member house while in Kerala the Front is most unlikely to reach more than forty seats. This was more or less expected , going by the political cross-currents and soico-economic realities of West Bengal while in Kerala the left front government was over-burdened with anti-incumbency and , most unfortunately, charges of corruption after two consecutive terms in office (2016-2026). Last but not the least is the debacle of the CPI (M) candidate Amitava Datta in Dharma Nagar by-poll in Tripura as he lost by a big margin by Tripura’s electoral standard.
The left forces in the country like counterparts across the world base their ideological convictions on Marxist philosophy that envisages no participation by Communist and Socialist parties in elections held under capitalist-democracies dominated by the bourgeoise. Rather they aim at armed ‘revolution’ to topple capitalist regimes to capture power for the emancipation of the toiling masses or the proletariat. But the Indian Communists had no other alternative but to pursue the electoral path on account of their lack of political strength and inability to interpret the true nature of the diverse Hindu-dominated , semi-feudal and semi-capitalist subcontinent and formulate an appropriate strategy to suit realities . In fact ,barring Mao Zedong of China, no other communist leader or party has been able to interpret Marxism in a creative manner. Naturally , in spite of having a provision in the party’s programme that the Communists look upon the bourgeoise democratic set-up in India and participation in it as an ad hoc arrangement to provide relief to the people , pending their full emancipation through armed revolution, the pursuit of power continued since independence. Now even this lip service is no longer there after deletion of the provision from the party constitution and programme in 2012 in a party Congress.
But the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) had indeed gone for a misadventure aiming at armed revolution in Teleganana and West Bengal , based on a decision adopted in the party Congress in Calcutta in 1948 under the stewardship of then party secretary B.T.Ranadive. They also had to pay dearly for this in the form of strong-arm suppression of the party by the central Nehru government and its banning . It was in the run-up to the 1952 Lok Sabha elections that the ban had been lifted to enable them to contest polls and Nehru’s own dalliance with Fabian socialist ideas played no mean part in it . Since then the CPI became legal Marxists with commitment to parliamentary form of government but burdened with gross misconceptions of diverse Indian socio-economic and political realities which continue even today.
In the first general election to Loksabha in 1952 the undivided CPI had pulled off a surprise by winning 16 seats and it was supposed to progress well but road-blocks emerged . The first Communist led coalition government formed in Kerala in 1957 was dismissed by the Fabian socialist Nehru government within two years following a so-called mass movement launched by Indira Gandhi. It took the left at least ten years to make its presence felt in ‘self-destructive’ West Bengal through a series of coalitions in late sixties , persecution by the Congress government of Siddhartha Shankar Roy as chief minister between 1972-1977 till capturing power for uninterrupted 34 years in 1977 .
Similarly , the left forces had almost simultaneously risen in states of Kerala and Tripura-the former for five year term each on several occasions and a for a long 35 year stint in Tripura. In the Loksabha elections the left forces had captured 32 seats in 1984 , braving the sympathy wave generated by the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi. The peak strength of 62 was reached by the left forces in the Loksabha polls of 2004 but then undue pressure on the UPA government from outside and the catastrophic withdrawal of support to the government in 2008 set the ball rolling for the left decline in Indian politics. This had however been preceded by the foolish refusal of party apparatchiks to let stalwart Jyoti Basu become prime minister in 1996 but then gradually the rot set in and the rise of BJP in national politics since 2014 put paid to hopes of the left to remain relevant in Indian politics.
In the ultimate analysis , what has removed the bottom of left’s ideological foundation is their inability to integrate themselves with the socio-economic realties of vast and ancient India, conscientiously and correctly interpret the concept of secularism, appeasement of fundamentalist and essentially communal Islamist elements and dated economic ideas that never cut ice with an aspirational India . In fact the left forces in Kerala way back in the fifties of last century had legitimized the politics of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) that still carries the legacy of pre-partition mindset of Hindu hatred by allying with it.
Apart from this, the reviving of the memories f how the CPI had betrayed the ‘Quit India’ movement of 1942 by allying with the British , how they had refused to donate blood to Indian soldiers in 1962 when war was raging with China also come to the fore in political discourses across media and intellectual circles, much to their embarrassment. The left dilemma is worsened by their stand on nationality and religion mainly because of their ideological positions rooted in Marxist philosophy. Karl Marx had never given a meaningful prognosis , not even a definition of the nationality question, because of his preoccupation with classes in society and their struggle for emancipation . It was Joseph Stalin who had composed a detailed thesis on the nationality question in 1912 , at the urgings of his parent party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) but this theory has also been overwhelmed by contradictions .
On religion which Marx wanted abolished his analysis sounds more like ‘brilliant generalisations’ but are essentially shallow and superficial . Marxian prognosis on religion never explains why people believe in religion and why they always look for succour from extra-terrestrial entities called Gods and deities and how politics should proceed by reconciling conflicting theories with realities. But the root of the left ailment can be traced to the collapse of the socialist regimes in erstwhile Soviet Union and East Europe from late eighties of the last century and pro-capitalist reforms in China , Vietnam etc as these epoch-making events have deprived Marxism of its magnetic pull as an ideology that could attract people . Finally, the decline of the left forces, if not a complete fall, add a new dimension to the evolving political scenario across India.
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