They have been decimated in their former strongholds. West Bengal was lost long ago, and then Tripura was gone. The Left in India is in power only in Kerala – and even in this solitary citadel, they failed miserably in the Parliamentary elections this year. Today, the CPI and CPI(M) together hold five seats in the Lok Sabha – a far cry from the days when they were an influential and respected force in the House. As a very real fear sets in that the Left in India will soon be completely ineffective, there have been renewed calls for a reunification. A coming together of the CPI and CPI(M), and sundry smaller Left parties in the country, in the hope of a phoenix-like rise from the ashes.
A formal process for reunification of the two parties was first started in 1992, when Indrajit Gupta was the CPI General Secretary, and Harkishan Singh Surjeet was the CPI(M) General Secretary. A joint circular was sent that year, with the names of both parties on the letterhead, asking cadres in all states to establish state-level coordination committees. “However, we could not really concentrate on that process back then, because of various reasons,” CPI General Secretary D Raja tells TNM.
“Now, this question has been posed again. And now, the leadership of both parties are discussing, both formally and informally, on how to make this happen,” D Raja says.
The split and the distance
The CPI(M) was formed at the seventh Congress of the Communist Party of India held in Kolkata in 1964 after splitting away from the CPI. Political analyst and veteran journalist BRP Bhaskar says that the downfall of the Left began with the split in the party. “The split happened in the wake of the ideological rift in the international movement. The official leadership of the CPI at that time followed the Soviet line, and the dissenters broke away from the party and formed the CPI(M).”
“One of the differences was the attitude towards the union Congress government at that time. The Soviet Union was taking a pro-Nehru government line, and the Chinese Communist party was taking a different line. This was the crucial issue in the ideological rift,” Bhaskar explains, “When differences arose, the CPI was backing the Nehru government which eventually led to a situation where the CPI became a supporter of the Emergency under Indira Gandhi. It had to pay the price for that, had to issue a public apology.”
“The CPI(M) meanwhile was led to a situation where it was willing to support anyone who would support a non-Congress government. And it is well-known that the VP Singh government (Janata Dal) was supported from the outside by both the CPI(M) and the BJP. Every week, Surjeet (the then CPI(M) General Secretary) and LK Advani held an informal meeting with VP Singh for coordination. Now looking back, I feel that more harm was done by the line taken by the CPI(M),” he says.
In 1978, at the Bhatinda Congress of the CPI, after the Emergency, there were several voices inside both parties that were critical of their support for power centres during the period (the CPI(M) had backed the Jana Sangh, whereas the CPI had backed Indira Gandhi’s Congress). In the Bhatinda Congress, there was a big push for a ‘Left and Democratic Alternative’ from one faction, whereas another faction spoke up for a united Left.
Since then, there have been many efforts for Left unity among several trade unions led by Left parties, including Kissan Sabhas and electricity workers, says D Raja. However, it was until the 1990s that a serious effort was made to bring the party together. This was after the Chennai Congress of the CPI in 1989, where the party came out with a resolution for reunification with the CPI(M) on the basis of principles.
But the efforts of Indrajit Gupta and Harkishan Singh Surjeet in 1992 came to naught. Today, while the CPI and CPI(M) are in alliance in Kerala (the Left Democratic Front), differences still persist.
Realities today
The Left in India is also going through one of its worst crises in history. The party’s power has shrunk from three states just a decade ago, to just one now.
In West Bengal, where the Left front led by the CPI(M) ruled for seven consecutive terms from 1977 to 2011, the Left was reduced to third place in the recent Parliamentary elections in terms of number of votes. Its winning streak was broken for the first time in 2011, with the rise of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, when the Left front failed to win a majority in the state Assembly. CPI and CPI(M) together had 62 seats in the 295 member House. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, CPI(M) managed to win just two seats in West Bengal, and CPI won none. In the 2016 Assembly elections, the CPI(M) contested 147 seats and won a total of 25 seats. The CPI, which stood in 11 seats, managed to win just one. And in 2019, the Left did not even manage to open their account in the state.
The situation in Tripura has been equally bleak for the party. The Left Front in Tripura consists mainly of the CPI(M), the CPI, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the All India Forward Bloc. It ruled the state for 10 years from 1978 to 1988, and then regained power in 1993 until 2018. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M) won in both Parliamentary constituencies in the state. However, four years down the line, the Left front suffered a crushing defeat in the 2018 Assembly elections. The Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura – which backs the BJP-led NDA – won 43 of the 59 Assembly seats. A year later, it was annihilation for the Left – BJP candidates won both the Parliamentary seats in the state.
Renewed calls for reunification
In the face of a likely obituary for the Left front in the country, the calls for reunification – and a hope for revival – are now being taken seriously by the leadership of both parties. While the CPI has time and again pushed for a reunification, the CPI(M) has resisted. But senior CPI leader and Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam says that CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, too, is on board for discussions now.
Binoy tells TNM that a ‘reunification’ is not a merger – rather, it is a call for unity in organisation and ideology. “Merger is an apolitical word,” Binoy says, “The unity of the Communist movement lies in serious ideological, organisational and political issues. The CPI has supported reunification for many decades. Now we feel that it is very crucial for the country as well as for the working class to think seriously about our unity.”
“We don’t want to end it there, rather we would like to encompass all the Communist parties to unite in the name of Marxism and for Parliamentary democracy,” Binoy Viswam, who is also a former Kerala minister, tells TNM.
He also says that it is not solely the CPI that is advocating reunification but that the response from CPI(M) leaders is also welcoming.
Former CPI General Secretary Sudhakar Reddy believes that reunification would strengthen the Left parties. “We have given a call for the unity of all the Communist parties in the country. Naturally duplication of work won’t be there and the unity would strengthen the parties. By uniting the parties, there is a possibility of strengthening the parties in West Bengal, Telangana, Bihar and Tripura,” he tells TNM.
But is CPI(M) on board?
Since the split, while the CPI has insisted on a reunification, the CPI(M) has been reluctant. But speaking to TNM, VS Achuthanandan, the senior most leader of the party, who joined the split-away CPI(M) in 1964, says that it is essential for everyone to work for a principle-based reunification. However, he cautions against a cosmetic coming together, and says it’s important to build consensus.
“A reunification that’s done by cutting corners merely for the survival of the Communist parties won’t last,” Achuthanandan tells TNM, “There has to be consensus on the organisational programme of both parties.”
“The split happened because of differences on the organisational programme, its implementation; on anti-imperialism, on agricultural revolution; and on the assessment on the nature of the Indian bourgeoisie. Hence, it is clear that only unity in the party programmes would lead to the reunification,” he stresses.
“I believe that the Communist parties in Nepal reunited on the basis of principles. It is essential for everyone to work for that kind of reunification which is possible by a unity on party programmes based on principles,” he says.
Will reunification lead to revival?
“After the 1964 elections that the Left parties lost the primacy as the opposition party,” BRP Bhaskar says, “After that numerous right wing parties came up – only to collapse. And the beneficiary of that collapse was the Jana Sangh and the BJP, which came to power.”
“Dislodging them won’t be easy for the Communist party even if they are united,” Bhaskar says, “It is going to be a long struggle. Efforts to set up a Left alternative to the present system must begin. And that can begin only if there is a credible, united Communist movement.”
“Currently, the Left does not have the capacity to take on the right wing, except in Kerala. Coming together is a necessity for the revival of the Left; but that in itself won’t lead to a revival. If the parties unite, they need to take a set of combined steps to regain the lost ground,” Bhaskar says.
However, CPI General Secretary D Raja says the Left is not dead in the country – and that the youth in the country are turning to the Left. “We are reaching out to the youth. Look at what is happening in JNU, in Pondicherry University, in Punjab University, Jadavpur University, Hyderabad Central University… The ideological battle has become crucial today, and the youth are coming to us,” he says.
“I believe that only the Left can fight Communalism. The Left alone can instil confidence in the people. The Left is the future of this country,” he says.