Once 'invincible' Left faces tough battle to prove relevance

Plagued by defections, rebellion and organisational glitches, the once invincible Left Front is hoping that the "worst" is over and will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to prove its relevance in West Bengal.
However, it hopes to gain from division of anti-Left votes among Congress, BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.
"The Lok Sabha polls in Bengal, will be our fight to prove the relevance of Left Front in West Bengal," Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas said.
Biswas feels it will benefit the Left that TMC, Congress and BJP were fighting the polls on their own and did not forge any alliance.

"The worst for the CPI(M) and the Left was in the 2009 Lok Sabha and 2011 Assembly poll. It is over. The Left will come out with good results in Bengal this time," CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim asserted.
After 34 years of uninterrupted rule since 1977, the CPI(M)-led Left Front suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and its then ally Congress in the 2011 Assembly poll.

The issue that drove the voters away from the Left parties - forcible land acquisition - is still in the voters' minds and may yet again play a spoilsport.

The Left received its first big jolt in 2009 Lok Sabha polls when its lost more than half of its seats to TMC and Congress alliance in Bengal and came down to just 15 seats with the TMC-Congress alliance winning 26.
The erosion of Left votes gained momentum in the 2011 Assembly poll resulting in the fall of the Left bastion.
Identifying the reasons such as arrogance of power, rot and lacunae within the organisation behind the defeat, the Left, especially the CPI(M), started a rectification drive.
But it did not help the demoralised grassroot workers. Inevitably this was followed by a sharp drop in the party membership, specially in the youth and women wings. While the youth wing suffered erosion of membership from 84 lakh in 2010 to 58 lakh in 2011, the women's wing membership plummeted from 57 lakh in 2010 41 lakh in 2011.

The Left, which is facing its toughest time in Bengal politics since 1977, is now pinning its hopes on the division of votes among Congress, BJP and Trinamool and anti-incumbency votes against Trianamool regime.
"It is always of great help in politics if your enemies are divided," CPI(M) central committee member Shyamal Chakraborty said.