After the drubbing it received in the Lok Sabha polls this time, the Left parties, particularly the CPM, can only nurse its wounds and recall the glorious days of the past. Every Lok Sabha election has witnessed the progressive decimation of the CPM and the 2019 polls are no different. The party has been punished for failing to evolve with the times and it will be very difficult for the comrades to keep their morale high.
Even in Kerala, where the party had pinned high hopes, the CPM got only one seat. Most of the time during the counting, the Congress-led UDF was ahead in all 20 seats.
At the national level too, the CPM cuts a sorry figure. There is not even a trace of the party in Bengal and Tripura, where it had ruled for decades. The only consolation is the lead in two seats in Tamil Nadu. Moreover, in Kerala, both Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan seem to be losing grip over the party.
The nine seats it had won in 2014 was the worst show by CPM so far in the Lok Sabha polls. This time around it is certain that the tally would be a smaller number. The CPM’s best performance was in 2004 when it won 43 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. The party supported the Manmohan Singh government from outside and made creative interventions in the administration. However, the Left parties withdrew the support over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
CPM’s strength in the Lok Sabha over the years was, 19 in 1967, 25 in 1971, 22 in 1977, 37 in 1980, 22 in 1984, 33 in 1989, 35 in 1991, 32 in 1996, 32 again in 1998, 33 in 1999, 43 in 2004 and 16 in 2009.
The record number of MPs for the Left Front also was in 2004 – 59. The other elections when the Left Front, which includes CPM, CPI and other parties, crossed the half-century mark are: 1991 with 57 MPs, 1989 (54), 1971 (53) and 1996 (52).
The setback suffered by the Left in Kerala can be attributed to the fact that the minorities overwhelmingly backed the UDF, reflecting their sentiments against the Central government, the majority community voted for the Congress-led front in protest against the state government’s decision on the Sabarimala issue.
In addition, the CPM-led LDF needs to have an urgent rethink on issues such as political murders, administrative failure and approach towards community organisations.
In Bengal, the CPM has suffered the worst defeat in four decades. After the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress captured power in the state, CPM had shown no signs of a recovery. CPM ruled Bengal for 34 years from 1977 to 2011, but it has nobody even to sit in the Opposition now. Most leaders have joined either Trinamool Congress or the BJP. In 2014, Bengal and Tripura had sent two MPs each to Delhi.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury had announced his solidarity with the Opposition parties who had decided to work together to evict BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power. However, the CPM did not enter into an alliance with any party.
Even amid such severe setbacks, the party cadre and supporters stress that the ideology and politics of the Left are most relevant these days. Still, CPM has put up a pathetic show in the elections. Political observers attribute the situation to losing touch of the Left leaders with the masses. It is pointed out that the philosophy of reaching out to ordinary people like farmers and rural folk still holds true and the failure of the Left to remember that lesson would only lead to its doom.
