Given the declining support base of the CPI(M), its general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s cautious optimism about the party’s likely performance in the coming Lok Sabha elections is quite understandable (OpEd page, ‘The Wednesday Interview’ – “‘Sabarimala will have a positive impact on the Lok Sabha elections’,” January 23). It should be a matter of serious concern to the party leadership that its ideological arch rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has edged out the Left even in West Bengal, even increasing its vote share as well. Organisationally, the CPI(M)’s cadre base started declining with the emergence of the Trinamool Congress’s Mamata Banerjee as an undisputed leader of the State. Very little has been done by the Left’s ageing and even uninspiring leadership to attract young aspirants to its fold. It does face an existential threat. The least that can be done is to first merge all Left-leaning parties under one umbrella.
S.K. Choudhury,
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The interview only reaffirms the precarious position of the CPI(M) — that it is in ‘no man’s land’ as far as fighting the general election as part of a combined opposition is concerned. There is no way the party can be a part of the Opposition group being promoted by Trinamol Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. Moreover with its depleting influence among voters, the party has hardly any bargaining power. The political snub to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, a Communist party in the wilderness and the indifferent response to the Kolkata rally from the leaders of the Biju Janata Dal and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, respectively, give enough breathing space to the B JP to gather itself together and project itself as the only party that can provide a stable government at the Centre.
V. Subramanian,
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