Left Over!

A decade is a long time in politics! A look at dwindling fortunes of the Left is ample proof. At a historic low today, the Left achieved a rare high in 2004. Gifted a historic opportunity courtesy Sonia Gandhi’s quest for power, Left squandered the opportunity curtailing the authority of her government. Last year in LS polls CPM’s vote share declined from 5.33 per cent in 2009 polls to 3.2 per cent and CPI’s from 1.43 per cent to 0.8 per cent. What has gone wrong? The party has obviously failed to capture the mind space of young and restless India. Did its own ideology consume it? Or, is era of pure play ideology parties over in India? An all round development is the only ideology that fetches electoral dividends today. But is the Left ready to take a right turn? Food for thought for Yechury & Co!