Once a formidable force in Indian politics, the Left has steadily declined over the past 15-20 years. It previously governed the states of West Bengal, Kerala, and Tripura, and maintained a significant presence in the national parliament. Today, it has lost two of those states and become a marginal player. In this year’s national elections, a combination of three Left parties won just eight seats out of 545 in the Lok Sabha, the popular chamber.
The Left’s Decline Amid India’s Shifting Political Landscape
The Left in India is made up of three major parties. The Communist Party of India (CPI) is one of the oldest left-wing parties, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist), often referred to as CPI(M), split from CPI in 1964 and has since become the dominant force within the Left. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), or CPI(ML), represents a more radical faction. Several smaller parties also align with them, typically contesting elections together under the Left Front alliance. The Left once held power in two significant strongholds – West Bengal from 1977 to 2009, and Tripura for much of its post-independence history. Kerala is now its only remaining base of power. Nationally, the Left was a major opposition force in early post-independence parliaments but has struggled to maintain double-digit seat counts since the 2009 elections.
There are multiple structural and organizational factors contributed to the Left’s electoral decline. Reset DOC spoke with Mariam Dhawle, a leader of the Left-wing All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), the country’s largest women’s organization, and a central committee member of India’s largest left formation, the CPI(M), and Bodhisattva Maity, a senior journalist and commentator, to explore their perspectives on the issue.
Both Dhawle and Maity agree that the Left has played a significant role in strengthening Indian democracy by diversifying the ideological and political spectrum, while also giving real weight to the opposition. The Left has consistently championed the working classes and served as a voice for progressive and secular constituencies. With India’s political sphere shifting to the Right in recent decades, the Left’s relevance has arguably grown. This makes its electoral decline, and the continued erosion with each election, even more perplexing.
Dhawle points to the increasing sectarian and religious polarization in India, which has eroded secular constituencies and impacted their electoral prospects. “The [ruling] Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is able to dictate the political discourse today, even in areas where it is not in government,” she says. While the BJP’s dominance disproportionately affects minorities, Dalits, and Adivasis, Dhawle argues that this power imbalance has contributed to the shrinking electoral base of the Left.
The BJP has been accused of pursuing policies that undermine the interests of religious minorities. The government has failed to act against the rise of hate crimes, and, in some cases, BJP-led administrations have openly enforced laws with clear bias. Dalits and Adivasis, who make up almost 23 percent of India’s population, have seen their constitutionally guaranteed rights eroded under BJP rule.
These rising attacks on these marginalized communities hurt the Left’s electoral prospects, as these groups seek protection against majoritarianism and increasingly vote for candidates or parties most likely to defeat the BJP, often overlooking the merits of individual candidates or the Left as a whole. Dhawle further explains that the BJP and its parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), “have succeeded in creating an overarching Hindu identity for large sections of the majority community, which is prepared to support government policies that negatively impact many of them.”
India is a religiously diverse country. Muslims, the largest minority, make up around 14 percent of the population, while Christians account for just over 2 percent. Hindus, however, represent about 80 percent. In addition to religious diversity, India’s population is divided into numerous caste groups. The BJP, with its Hindutva agenda, has been accused of marginalizing minorities and fostering religious and caste-based divisions.
Dhawle also highlights the “Hindutva-Corporate nexus,” which makes the BJP a formidable electoral machine, even in areas where it has little grassroots support. This dynamic shrinks the political space for opposition forces, including the Left, which cannot match the BJP’s financial resources or state-backed power.
Another significant factor is the BJP’s dominance over the media. Through its corporate connections, the party controls much of India’s media landscape, making it easier to polarize public opinion and stifle alternative ideological narratives. This has long been a challenge for the Indian Left, which finds itself more marginalized in mainstream media than ever before.
While Dhawle partially agrees with the criticism that the Left has failed to capture the public imagination due to its weak media presence, she argues that this is not the main reason for the Left’s electoral decline. She emphasizes that the Left remains deeply rooted in grassroots mobilizations – on the streets, in workplaces, and through various movements it leads daily. According to Dhawle, the Left’s presence has actually grown in these areas. However, she acknowledges that elections are a different matter.
In India, elections are mostly fought on the basis of caste, region, and religion, with money playing a critical role. The Left, which seeks to build a secular, class-based constituency has always been disadvantaged on these fronts. When polarization intensifies around caste, regional, or religious identities, the Left tends to lose electoral ground.
The Left’s Struggle to Adapt in a Polarized India
The challenges posed by caste and religion-based polarization go deeper than electoral strategy. Persistent sectarian divides strengthen forces that promote more identity-oriented politics. In a country as diverse as India, this results in a significant push towards smaller constituencies defined by primordial, birth-based identities. For a political formation founded on a rational, ideological agenda, this makes it increasingly difficult to maintain its base or attract new supporters.
Maity argues that the rise of identity politics has fragmented the Left itself, dividing it between those who want to stick to a classical class-based agenda and those who believe it should focus more on issues like caste-based atrocities and religious violence. This internal division undermines the cohesiveness of Left voters, many of whom have shifted their support to other “mainstream” parties in search of more effective representation.
Maity also notes that the Left’s electoral decline must be understood within a broader global context, where there has been a steady shift away from organized, hierarchical party structures – a trend that began with the collapse of the socialist block in the 1990s. In India, the Left was also affected by the hegemonic narrative of the “end of history,” as its core base – trade unions – came under attack with the implementation of neo-liberal economic policies. Nevertheless, Maity stresses that, in India’s context, more immediate “proximate causes” are crucial to understanding the Left’s downturn.
According to Maity, the Left has failed to “adjust itself in the current political environment in India, where two competing mainstream forces dominate: on one side, the Hindu nationalist movement led by the BJP, which is pushing for top-down unification; and on the other, regional forces trying to redefine Indian nationalism through a regionalist lens.”
Maity points out that while “various parties have latched” onto the latter forces – both to resist the BJP’s unification tactics and as a savvy electoral strategy – “the Left has failed to provide the leadership and direction it should and could have.” As a result, Maity argues, the Left “has very little to offer the new generation of voters, lacking a clear ‘hook’ to draw them in.” Finding that “hook” would require fundamental changes in how the Left approaches politics.
While Dhawle agrees that Left needs to reinvent itself, she disputes the notion that it is out of touch with the changes in Indian politics. The Left continues to lead a range of movements, including those focused on climate justice and caste- and gender-based atrocities, and will persist regardless of its electoral fortunes. The Left, she argues, should not be viewed as just another political party in India. Unlike others, it is deeply rooted in its cadres and operates far more democratically. This is something the Left cannot compromise on.
Cover photo: Supporters of India’s opposition parties, Indian National Congress (INC) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) await the arrival of INC party President Mallikarjun Kharge on April 15, 2024, ahead of the country’s national elections. (Photo by R. Satish Babu / AFP)
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