No Left government in India after 47 years:EMS Namboodiripad brought Left rule to Kerala in 1957

In the Kerala Legislative Assembly elections, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by Pinarayi Vijayan, has suffered defeat. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has returned to power after a decade, securing more than 90 of the 140 seats. After this defeat in Kerala, this will be the first time in 49 years when there is no Left government in any state of the country. Let’s know the key facts related to the expansion, victories and defeats of leftism in the country… But first, let’s understand about the Left i.e. Communist ideology. Refused to accept independence received in 1947 The Communist Party of India (CPI) refused to recognize the independence India received in 1947 as real independence. At that time, the party claimed that this independence was incomplete and the result of compromises, which they termed ‘false independence’. It took the party more than 5 years to fully accept this reality. In March 1948, a major change occurred within the party BT Ranadive (BTR) became the new General Secretary, replacing PC Joshi. With his arrival, the ‘Ranadive Line’ was implemented in the party, which was extremely radical and aggressive. Under this ideology, the CPI opposed the Constitution even before it was implemented in January 1950. They argued that Congress leaders were imposing a ‘Constitution of slavery’ on the Indian people. The Left party called for violently overthrowing the Nehru government. This policy completely failed during 1948 and 1949. Subsequently, in May-June 1950, BT Ranadive was removed from his position. The party’s Central Committee acknowledged that the call for a nationwide strike and rebellion on March 9, 1949, made without proper thought, was a major mistake. After about 6 years, the CPI was forced to abandon its rigid ideology and accept the reality of the country’s independence. The world’s first democratically elected Left government In 1956, Travancore, Cochin and Malabar were merged to form a new state called Kerala. In March 1957, assembly elections were held here for the first time. In the 126-seat assembly, the Communist Party of India, i.e., CPI, got 60 seats. Along with 5 independents, it formed the government. This was the world’s first elected Left government. EMS Namboodiripad implemented two major laws just one week after becoming Chief Minister. First- Land Reform Act and Second- regarding education reform. After the Land Reform Act, sharecropper farmers got the freedom to purchase land. The limit of landholding was fixed. Meanwhile, through the Education Bill, strict rules were made to regulate private institutions. On February 2, 1959, Indira Gandhi became the National President of Congress. After that, she went to Kerala. After returning from there, she submitted her report to Prime Minister Nehru. On July 31, 1959, the Kerala government was dismissed. Gandhi’s pictures removed, Mao-Stalin’s put up Meanwhile, Gandhi’s pictures started being removed from schools and colleges in Kerala and pictures of Mao and Stalin were put up. It began to be said that communist countries had sent funds to form Namboodiripad’s government. In opposition to this, lakhs of people took to the streets under the leadership of Mannath Pillai, known as the Gandhi of Kerala. Thousands of people were put in jail. Police resorted to lathi-charge to suppress the movement. In this, a pregnant woman from the fishermen community lost her life. The movement flared up further. Violence began to occur in various places. Second major split due to different stance from government on China war The 1962 India-China war widened the ideological rift within the CPI. One faction of the party was in support of the Nehru government. The other faction was not ready to accept China as an aggressor. Amidst this debate of ‘nationalism versus international communism’, leaders considered pro-China were put in jail. This very tension shook the party’s foundation and the communist movement split into two. Two years after the war, in 1964, the differences grew so much that the Communist Party officially split. Supporters of the Soviet Union’s soft policy remained in the CPI, while leaders adopting a revolutionary stance formed the Marxist Communist Party (CPI-M). Left in Bengal in 1967 In West Bengal, the Left first came to power in 1967 through the ‘United Front’ coalition. At that time, Ajoy Mukherjee became the Chief Minister and Jyoti Basu was the Deputy CM. However, the government remained very unstable. In 1975, when Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency in the country, the CPI initially supported Indira Gandhi and the Emergency, while the CPI(M) opposed it and many of their leaders went to jail. In the 1977 assembly elections, the Left got a huge majority in Bengal and this marked the real beginning of the long communist rule in the state. Jyoti Basu became the Chief Minister and remained the CM of the state continuously until 2000. After him, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee became the Chief Minister, who tried to bring industries to the state. However, after land acquisition controversies like Singur and Nandigram, the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee ended the 34-year-old communist rule in 2011. The then CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee himself lost his election. Jyoti Basu got 3 chances to become PM in the 90s Former CBI Director Arun Prasad Mukherjee revealed in his book ‘Untouched Aspects of Rajiv Gandhi, Jyoti Basu, Indrajit Gupta’ that during the turbulent period of 1990 and 1991, Rajiv Gandhi wanted Jyoti Basu to become the Prime Minister of the country. In October 1990, Rajiv Gandhi first expressed his desire to meet Jyoti Basu, but Basu declined saying that this could not be his personal decision and only his party (CPM) could decide on this matter. It was only after the Left leaders refused that Chandra Shekhar became Prime Minister. Later in 1991, when the Chandra Shekhar government fell, Rajiv Gandhi once again contacted Jyoti Basu. This time too, Jyoti Basu left the decision to the party leadership and refused to become Prime Minister. After this, in 1996, United Front MPs once again offered Basu to become PM. This time too, most party leaders did not agree. Left’s senior leader Sitaram Yechury explains that most people believed at that time that the Left Front had only 32 MPs, so it would not be right to become part of a weak government. Largest Left Front in 2004 In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, left-wing parties delivered their best performance. The Left Front won 80 seats. Manmohan Singh’s first UPA government was completely dependent on Left’s support. They played a key role in implementing laws like NREGA (MGNREGA) and RTI. 2008 Nuclear deal: break from the alliance The leftists opposed the UPA on the issue of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal. They withdrew their support from UPA-1. Since then, in 18 years, the Left has never come anywhere near central power. Defeat in Bengal in 2011, Tripura in 2018 and Kerala in 2021 ​