This refers to the article, “let's have a left-mukt Bharat” (May 25) by Anirban Ganguly. In December last year, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held an organisational plenum to re-orient its structure and discuss strategies that would help arrest the continuing electoral decline of left parties in India. The resolution document showed the left’s struggle to remain relevant as an electoral entity with a pan-India base, and with an ideology that has arguably outlived its time. The left’s abysmal performance in the just concluded elections shows its waning popularity among agricultural workers, semi-skilled workers and farmers who have historically identified themselves with the sickle.
It is time the left realised that it cannot consolidate its votes by merely assuring ‘equal distribution’ of poverty. Flashing the secularism card and projecting the incumbent dispensation as anti-development will not inspire confidence among voters. It must come up with fresh ideas and dynamic leadership, both at Centre and in States, if it is to present itself as a serious player.