As state elections come near, eyes are on the largest communist party in the country. Right from its formation in 1964, 2019 was the first time that it failed to win a single seat from West Bengal - in the parliamentary election. Barring the Jadavpur seat, the Left Front lost its deposit in the 40 seats it contested. The CPI(M)’s vote share in the 2019 election declined to less than 7%, and the Left Front combined secured around 7% of the total votes polled. The result made the Left a non-entity in Bengal.
Interestingly, Congress has decided to go the election battle with CPI(M) on their side. While experts are of the opinion that the Left-Congress alliance is in place because both parties are fighting for their existence, the main challenge of the Left and Congress alliance is to keep the status quo in the assembly.
The Left party in Bengal recently showed some resurgence, which Congress would keenly be looking forward to benefitting from. During the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens protests, the Left parties were able to foment public opinion and draw large crowds. The party has also taken up crucial issues like farmer distress, labour laws, rising food prices and local corruption.
However, it is very difficult to forget the last instance when these two erstwhile bitter political rivals in regional politics of the country came together. The on-off relationship between the two had not yielded positive results in the 2016 elections – where TMC swept back to power with 211 of the 294 seats at stake. The Left Front-Congress combine managed to win 74 seats in all, but the CPIM had to capitulate the status of the main opposition party in the state assembly to Congress - having only 26 seats to Congress’ 44.
The CPI(M)’s partnership with the Congress for the 2021 assembly elections has many flaws but possibilities can also emerge as there is rising anti-incumbency sentiment against the Trinamool and BJP’s weak leadership in the state. All will depend on how well the two partners can mobilise their cadres and convince voters who had switched loyalties of their new found strength.
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