With defeat in recent Tripura election, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its allies have suffered a major jolt. The Communist government was in power uninterrupted for last 25 years in the state. This defeat comes seven years after they lost power in West Bengal, in 2011. The left party is now in power only in Kerala. Once the most dominant political force in India, the communist is slowly losing its relevance in contemporary India where right wing politics has taken centre stage. Left parties use to rule states like West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura and also send large contingent of MPs to the parliament.
Tripura defeat is catastrophic for them as they did not expect such a humiliating defeat. Manik Sarkar as humble Chief Minister was quite powerful and every expected him to lead communist to the victory. They completely failed to read mood of the people especially the young voters. BJP manage to tap the sentiment of youths and therefore emerged victorious. Perhaps the time has come for left leaders to introspect. If they do not arrest this continues downslide, the left politics may completely lose its relevance. For the communists, the only way out of this rut is to go back to the drawing board and mobilise people on issues related to the economy, where, besides sluggish job creation, the effects of demonetisation, especially on the informal sector, are still playing out. The largest component of the political Left, the CPI (M), should realize the need for independent mobilisation and rediscover its agitationist potential to get itself out of the morass. Also in order to attract young voters the left need to rethink over its economic policies.