Leftists run the risk of meeting with electoral ‘red’

New Delhi, Apr 14 (UNI) The 2019 battle cry will definitely put to test the political relevance of Indian communists as they face three formidable challengers in their traditional bastions of West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala.

So much has been their story of 'marginalisation' in West Bengal – that once ‘Lal Durg’ their 'red forte' – is today better known as a state where the fight is essentially drawn between Trinamool Congress and the BJP.

In fact, a few media surveys have already predicted that Left Front’s vote share would nosedive to such a level that out of 42 seats in the state, they may end up losing all.

“They have been wiped out in Tripura, the communists may not win single seat in West Bengal and the remaining prestige will be lost out in Kerala as Rahul Gandhi has taken the flight to Wayanad,” says BJP leader Dilip Ghosh.

In tiny state of Tripura, the Leftists were ‘ousted’ in 2018 and thus by all calculations, the BJP is set to wrest both the parliamentary seats – one of them being ST reserved.


But the ‘shocker’ for communists came in Kerala and that from a 'friend' Congress president Rahul Gandhi – whose decision to contest from Wayanad constituency is seen as the last nail in the coffin for the Left parties.


It is not without good reason that the CPI-M leaders feel ‘ditched’ by sheer display of ‘opportunism’ by the Congress.

"It is none of our business. But some communists think to an extent Sonia Gandhi-Rahul duo has been ungrateful as it were the communists that played the role of an anchor in ensuring a Congress-led UPA dispensation in 2004,” a BJP source said here.

A section of BJP leaders say Mr Gandhi’s move also reflects ‘internal bickering’ in the Congress especially in its Kerala unit and it also talks about the ‘intensity’ of the cold war between Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury factions in the CPI-M.

Electorally, best performance by the Left parties came in 2004 when they had 59 members in Lok Sabha and their ‘comrade’ Somnath Chatterjee became Speaker in the House of the people. It was the Left Front that actually helped anchor UPA-I and so much has been the communists’ say in the running of a dispensation run by 'pro-liberalisation economist' Dr Manmohan Singh that an effective Left-UPA Coordination panel was formally set up.

But the heydays were short lived as Prakash Karat – the hardliner CPI(M) general secretary was adamant about the Indo-US Nuke Deal.
In 2008, the anguished Left parties withdrew support to the Manmohan Singh government.
The relationship could not have gone so bad at any worse time. Thanks to Nandigram and Singur, the Left Front government headed by Basudeb Bhattacharya was at all low in popularity graph.
The Congress easily walked into the arms of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and thus the communists rule came to an end in their own bastion in 2011.

The bitterness of defeat turned worse as in Kerala too that year, the CPI-M was ‘ousted’.

In Kerala, CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front lost to Congress-led UDF in a neck-and-neck fought assembly elections. In West Bengal, CPI(M) alliance with 62 seats suffered a setback after 34 years of continuous rule, losing to Congress and Trinamool Congress alliance's 226 seats. The then Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also lost from his Jadavpur assembly constituency.


In retrospective, the Left-Congress confrontation was reflected in 1991 Lok Sabha elections as well. After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination as Congress benefited by the ‘sympathy wave’,  the CPI-M later said it was the ‘worst victim’ of the sympathy wave as its vote share dropped from 11.24 per cent to 3.66.

The CPI-M even had accused Congress of ‘unleashing naked terror’ to exploit the assassination of narrow electoral gains in Kerala, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. CPI-M tally in 1991 was 35.


In 2019 in Wayanad, Mr Gandhi is actually face to face in confrontation with the CPI, which had already announced its candidature before the announcement of Congress president.


In terms of numbers, the CPI’s best show was in 1962 when securing 9.9 percent vote, it had won 29 seats.

But, according to old data, it was the irreplaceable ‘Jyoti Basu charishma’ that had ensured a victory for the CPI-M and its allies in West Bengal in 1991 - “making it the only communist bastion to remain intact”.

So much has been the magic of Jyoti Basu's power and people’s faith in his polity that even after Rajiv’s assassination,  Congress stalwart ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury from Malda had to contend with ‘reduced margin’ of victory.


For the Left, first signs of debacle in recent past came in 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

The CPI(M) contested 32 seats, CPI - 3 seats, All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) - 3 and RSP 4;  while Trinamool made big gains, the CPI(M) won 9 seats from West Bengal, CPI, AIFB and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) two seats each.

From Kerala, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) strength was four.
In 2014, the CPI-M strength was nine and one RSP.
As one sits back and looks at the manner the BJP has grown phenomenally in erstwhile Left bastion West Bengal, it ought to be understood that the pro-saffron party undercurrent was certainly in action in the districts of Nadia, Murshidabad and West Dinajour way back in 1991.

This was largely due to the wooing of ‘Hindu refugees’ during partition and perhaps also in 1971. The saffron party’s vote share had shot up from near negligible 1.67 per cent to 11.66 per cent that year.

Modi govt successfully changed people's perception about political class: BJP

New Delhi, Apr 13 (UNI) A big difference between the socio-political conditions in the country between 2010-11 under UPA and 2018-19 is that unlike then at present the politicians are 'not mocked at and dismissed' and it has been proved that "politicians can also deliver".
This was stated by BJP leader and MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe at the release function of new book 'The New Age Karyakarta'.  
"In last five years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one big change that has come and can be realised is that the politicians can also deliver. People have started appreciating this," said Mr Sahasrabuddhe, who is also President of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
Sharing anecdotes and stories from folk tales, he said the general 'image' of a politician has been always found wanting.
"There is a story in Maharashtra about a person without brains who is being sent to the earth and he asks what shall he do and then Chitragupta says, make him join politics. He will not need brain there," he remarked.

He said the 'image' of the neta class has undergone a sea change in India since the time of 2010-11 when the Anna Hazare-led movement had taken the country by storm and now as the country is in the midst of an election season."When Anna Hazare and Delhi's incumbent Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) were on the streets leading the anti-corruption movement, the general impression about a politician used to be negative.It was normal to mock at the political class and common people used to enjoy doing the same," he said.However, Mr Sahasrabuddhe said a big change has been brought in that 'image'  about the political class and added, "now people believe that politicians can also deliver"."This changed atmosphere is significant," he said.

LS polls: Members of ‘House of Elders’ have fun, adventures and failures too

New Delhi, Apr 13 The likes of Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Digvijay Singh share a common feature in the heat and dust of battle of 2019 as they all are sitting Rajya Sabha members and are seeking elections to the 17th Lok Sabha.
In recent past, eminent members of the House of Elders to make it to Lok Sabha include Sushma Swaraj, Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha in 2009.

In 2014, Congress old warhorse Ghulam Nabi Azad failed to make it to the House of the People from Udhampur parliamentary constituency in Jammu and Kashmir when he lost to BJP leader Jitendra Singh by a margin of 60,976 votes.

BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley also failed in his maiden attempt to make it in 2014 as he was humbled by Capt Amarinder Singh in Amritsar by a margin of 1,12,770 votes.

The senior leaders making to and fro journey between Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha in retrospective effect have galaxy of political stars.

As a matter of fact, India has had illustrious Dr Manmohan Singh making it as country's Prime Minister for 10 years as a member of Upper House from Assam.

Five other Prime Ministers – who were once Rajya Sabha members include the illustrious club of Lal Bahadur Shatri, Indira Gandhi, V P Singh, Chandra Shekhar, H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Like Dr Manmohan Singh, the then Janata Dal leader H D Deve Gowda was also the Leader of the House (Rajya Sabha) during his prime ministership.

In fact, India’s Upper House of Parliament also has the distinction of giving Presidents in future – Zakir Hussain, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, N Sanjeeva Reddy, Zail Singh,  Pranab Mukherjee and Pratibha Patil.

Records show Ms Patil was Rajya Sabha member between 1985 and 1990.  

Even incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind was a member of Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2006.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu too has been an active member of the Upper House since 1998 to 2016 from Karnataka and later for a year from Rajasthan from July 5, 2016 and August 10, 2017.

In fact, Pranab Mukherjee has the distinction of being Rajya Sabha member for long and it was only at the fag end of his political career, that Pranab Mukherjee chose to contest and win from Jangipur Lok Sabha seat in 2004 and later in 2009.

Mr Mukherjee got his break in politics in 1969 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi made him a member of the Rajya Sabha and soon he emerged as 'Man for all Seasons' to her.

Mr Mukherjee was very powerful under Prime Ministers P V Narasimha Rao and also under Dr Manmohan Singh.

Among the old-timers, Vajpayee, Sanjeeva Reddy, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indira Gandhi, C N Annadurai and P C Sethi were among those Rajya Sabha members who were elected to the lower House in 1967.

Five years prior to that, in 1962, Y B Chavan, Humayun Kabir and Bejawada Gopal Reddy made it to Lok Sabha as Rajya Sabha MPs.

Among the stars of later period, L K Advani made it to Lok Sabha  as a Rajya Sabha MP alongside compatriots such as Chitta Basu, Sharad Yadav, Ajit Singh and Vijayraje Scindia in 1989.

Chandra Shekhar was among the 11 Rajya Sabha members to be elected to the lower House in 1977. His compatriots too were stars in their own rights – Raj Narain and K Brahmananda Rao.

In fact, Raj Narain defeated Indira Gandhi from Rae Bareli in 1977 by a margin of 55,202 votes.

The 1989 elections - post Bofors controversy - saw 12 Rajya Sabha MPs win general elections to Lok Sabha.

In both 1957 and 1962 elections, 15 Rajya Sabha members joined the Lok Sabha.

Notably, as per the records, former Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon from Kerala were elected to the Lok Sabha in 1957.

According to parliamentary experts, rules are specific that the Rajya Sabha members, who are elected to Lok Sabha have no option but to quit the upper House.

The rules, however, say those elected from more than one constituency (to Lok Sabha) can retain a seat of their choice.
In 1991 general elections, Vajpayee (was Rajya Sabha member)  and could make it to Lok Sabha from Vidisha and Lucknow. Another Rajya Sabha member who could do so in 1991 and enter the 10th Lok Sabha was D K Taradevi of the Congress, who was elected from Chikmagalur in Karnataka.
In 1991 polls, interestingly as Rajya Sabha members G G Swell from Meghalaya (Hill State People’s Democratic Party), Raj Mohan Gandhi (Janata Dal), T R Baalu (DMK) and Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar (BSP) had failed to enter Lok Sabha.