The sad Red story!

So the verdict is out loud and clear. The mantra of “Ma Mati and Manush” had its final sway in the Red bastion of Bengal. The LaalBhais (as once Bala Saheb Thackerayjee derisively addressed them) have been routed out lock, stock and barrel, with many Left stalwarts even losing their deposits. Mamata Banerjee described the victory as, “ a second freedom” for Bengal!
Such is the world of politics that once invincible, arrogant and stubborn Left is left with very few takers, after the drubbing they got in Bengal and Kerala(although performed better in Kerala). From being a major opposition party in the 50’s they have almost been reduced to a state or two. Some have put it with wit “Left has nothing left in them now”. So can we put the RIP tomb stone on the Red grave? Is this the end of the once powerful Indian Left movement? Is this the “end of history” moment for India?

Left movement started with, in the early 30’s with heavy intellectual like M.N.Roy as its janak. Dilly dallying many times whether to join the then Indian National Movement under congress leadership, the Left always were an intriguing and strange party since the beginning. As Shree Manmohan Singhji many times said “Our Friends from Left have always been on the wrong side of History”. 1942 they decided not participate in the Quit India Movement, since Russia got involved in the war! No sooner did India achieve freedom, than the Left declared that Indian war of independence is not over, now the Indian masses need to be relieved from the Indian yoke too! And with this idea in, they clandestinely began fighting against the legitimate Indian government. May be this was the second sin of the Indian Communists.

There on, from the covert support for the Naxalbari movement, to the overt support to China during the China war, to the stubborn opposition to computers -all this certainly points to the fact what Mr.PM was stressing on. Meanwhile in late 70’s the young lawyer Mr.Jyoti Basu seized the opportunity with promise for land reforms movement and came to power -a successful political manoeuvring which Mamtajee bettered later in the Singur-Nandigram days to come.

Till date Kerala and West Bengal (thanks to the then Basu Government) remain the only states which did the land reforms exceptionally well. Unlike in Mahrashtra and other states, in these two states it would be difficult to find 400 acres of land under one person or families control! Yes that was a big turning point in the history of Bengal, which the Left successfully milked till now. But in the present election this cash-cow (or vote-cow?) has gone dry!

All said and done, it won’t augur well for the country if the Left is left to die a silent death. All this while, the only meaningful debate and opposition has come from the Left alone on major policies of the Govt may it be nuclear deal or privatization policies, with little or no voice coming in from the other major opposition parties! It is also a fact that our comrades have shown much higher integrity and simplicity in public life (if we leave one or two exceptions like Pinnarai Vijayan) compared to others in the echelons of power.

What would be needed from the Left as of now would be a total Indianization of the Left movement. Dump away the old clothes of Stalin, Lenin and Mao. They stink in this age. Change the ideology to suit the Indian masses. And be practical – opposing computers, investments, and branding the non-communists as CIA agents won’t take you far. Think in the interest of the country and not the interest of the DIY-communist-kit -- the "Red Book". Reform and revitalize the left movement for the betterment of this country!