Left is no longer 'right' in Uttar Pradesh politics

Left had its presence in the state Assembly till 1974, when it won 16 seats

The Left is no longer 'right' in Uttar Pradesh politics on Tuesday.

The Left movement is struggling for survival in the face of a stiff challenge posed by communal and casteist politics in the state.

The movement, which had its presence in the state Assembly till 1974, when it won 16 seats, had won one to four seats till 1996.

Thereafter, the Left movement in the state has been marginalised with none of its members entering the portals of the Vidhan Sabha in 2007 and 2012 elections, as the Left parties faced a total rout.

"It has been the advent of the politics of caste and religion in the 1990s that pushed Left ideology to the sidelines," CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjaan said.

"It is not as if the Left parties do not have their organisation in the state. In almost 65 districts CPI has its organisational units but they are struggling because of dearth of resources. The same is the condition of other leftist parties," Anjaan told PTI in an interview.

Notwithstanding the reverses suffered in the last two elections, all the Left parties, including CPI, CPI-M, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc, have together fielded candidates on 140 seats of the total 403 Assembly constituencies in UP this time.

Former member of CPI-M central committee SP Kashyap said Left parties have lagged behind due to polarisation on caste and communal lines as these two factors are strongly associated with people's emotions.

"There is cultural backwardness and understanding of political ideology and those who have vested interest in polarisation have massive resources... In this context the fight of Left parties gets weakened on its own," Kashyap pointed out.

Anjaan is, however, hopeful that Left movement will go on in the state as those indulging in caste and religion based politics have gradually got exposed.

"This process of getting exposed is today passing through its final stage... The youth today does not get carried away by communally inflammatory speeches but ask for report card," Anjaan added.