India’s Left parties, once a dominant force in national and regional politics, are now staring at the possibility of being out of power in all states for the first time in over five decades.
To understand the magnitude of this shift, it is important to look back at history.
The late 1970s marked a high point. In 1977, the CPI(M) established its dominance in West Bengal, beginning what would become the longest uninterrupted tenure by any political party in an Indian state. Under veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu’s leadership, the Left Front governed the state for over two decades, with Basu serving as Chief Minister for 23 years before handing over to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in 2000.
In 1996, Basu came close to becoming Prime Minister as part of the United Front coalition. Although she was willing to take up the role, the CPI(M) Politburo turned down the proposal, a decision he later described as a “historic blunder”.
Even in the years that followed, the Left retained substantial national relevance. By 2008, it was extending crucial outside support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government under Manmohan Singh. The arrangement collapsed over differences on the Indo-US nuclear agreement, forcing the government to prove its majority in a trust vote. At that time, the Left governed three states — West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura — and maintained a strong presence in Parliament.
Tripura, too, emerged as a stronghold. Beginning in 1993, the Left Front secured repeated electoral victories. Leaders like Manik Sarkar became synonymous with stable governance, holding office for 20 years and cementing the party’s dominance in the northeastern state.
However, the decline began to accelerate in the last decade. In 2011, a wave of public discontent in West Bengal, fuelled by protests over land acquisition in regions like Nandigram and Singur, paved the way for Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress to sweep the elections. The Left Front’s strength in the Assembly dropped sharply, signalling the end of its long rule in the state.
This further reduced the Left’s political presence to a single state, Kerala. The rise of the BJP at the Centre in 2014 was followed by a saffron wave in states, and in 2018, it conquered the Left’s Tripura stronghold as well. The party won 36 seats in the 60-member Assembly, bringing the Communists’ tally down from 50 to 16.
Kerala then became the final bastion. In 2016, the Left returned to power under Pinarayi Vijayan and broke the state’s long-standing pattern of alternating governments by securing a second consecutive term in 2021. This victory offered a temporary revival for the Left.
Now, with the latest electoral trends indicating a strong lead for the Congress-led United Democratic Front, even this last foothold appears uncertain. Early counting suggests the UDF is significantly ahead in the majority of constituencies, raising the likelihood of a political shift in the state.
Meanwhile, celebrations have begun among Congress workers in Thiruvananthapuram, reflecting confidence in a favourable outcome. If these trends hold, the Left’s long journey in Indian governance may enter an unprecedented phase, without direct control of any state government.
(IANS)
