The liberal-left nexus is a strange phenomenon as they have very little in common, especially in ideological terms, but with the rise of radical right-wing Hindu nationalism, the left as well as the liberals have been pushed into a corner. The left is commonly seen as represented by the CPI, CPI (M), and CPI (ML). The liberals meanwhile are mostly present in parties like INC and various regional parties where they have a robust presence. While globally and especially in the west, liberals like to distinguish themselves from the leftists, but it seems that in India they have found common ground as nationalism takes charge at both central as well as regional level.
The Hindu nationalist considers the left-liberal camp as a threat. When the 2019 parliamentary election was concluded, the left was reduced to single digits. From being the third-largest front in the 2009 elections to not entering double digits says much about the left’s decline. A lot of it can be attributed to the rise of extreme nationalism after the 2014 elections. There have been a few states like West Bengal, Kerala, and Tripura where the left has done well but otherwise it has stagnated, and consequently declined.
We should understand the history and the roots of the left parties, mainly the CPI (communist party of India) and the later offshoots of it. The CPI was founded by MN Roy in 1925. When this party was founded, all its activities were banned and Communists were very much the thorn in the flesh of the British. There were two major parties, the INC and the Muslim League, but it was the Communists and their efforts which saw the creation of a system where ideas of freedom flourished. The INC and the Muslim League were more or less busy with their own political agendas. The left ever since its inception has done a tremendous job of ensuring that freedom and democratic principles prevail, and yet it has failed at multiple fronts, especially since the turn of the 21 century.
The Indian left has been trying to emulate progressive American leftism as it tries to strengthen its grip in India, especially since the late 80s, as its vote share and popularity have taken a bad hit. This to some extent has proved ineffective as the ideological and founding principles are different in both nations. This can be seen as a desperate attempt to create awareness among the masses but as of now has provided nothing much. The other important factor is the revolutionary idea associated with the left, as people believe a strong left is not good for India. When India got its independence, the people saw the communists as mere revolutionaries who would remain on the sidelines and not enter much in the main political arena. This revolutionary tag has to be scrapped by the left if it has to mainstream its positions rather than remaining on the fringe.
The other dilemma has been a subsequent change in the policies of the left. To some extent it can be justified as earlier the entire region was under British. When the Communist Party of India was launched in 1925 it went through many phases from being the most anti-British element in the Indian political system to the one with the most chaotic and authoritarian leadership. The CPI was at the forefront of the Indian freedom struggle and since then has been a key driver of some great ideas, guidelines, and policies, from land ceiling acts to reservations. During the time of the British, many members of the left were imprisoned and hanged. Many cases were lodged against communist leaders, some of which included the Peshawar case, Meerut case, and Kanpur Bolshevik case. These cases led to mass arrests and severe crackdowns on the left. The sovereignty of the British in India was threatened by the Communists even though they constituted a minuscule minority among the major political parties, yet their ideas were so strong that they faced the worst brunt of the British.
Trade unions and many organisations were formed by Communist leaders, from student organisations to labour unions, for which many prominent leaders like MN Roy, Muzaffar Ahmed, Nalini Gupta, Shaukat Usmani, Ghulam Hussein, and RC Sharma were charged for sedition. Political parties like the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan also merged with the CPI to form a broader base for Communism in India. We often don’t think about how the left has shaped our present world, especially policies like nationalisation of the economy which was scrapped in the early nineties, advocacy for work for all, and limiting the privatisation efforts of the government. The left has also put strong emphasis on unions and councils while Hindu nationalist parties like BJP want to encourage free-market capitalism and international investment in India. It is the strong presence of the left which has been able to stop the opening up of markets that puts Indian companies at a greater risk of loss and could lead to mass unemployment. The left-leaning parties have all along been against privatisation, capitalism, and they vigorously advocate for socialism.
When we talk about the left we most focus on the CPI and to some extent CPI(M) which came into existence in the mid-sixties after a rift within the CPI, though there are other left-leaning parties at the regional level across India. The left has always been nationalist, which is a crucial recipe for any party’s success. It was one of the few major parties in British India which was opposed to the partition.
There have been several social issues, from caste-based violence to regional demands for autonomy, which the left has had to face. While the BJP tries to centralise power, the CPI has a very different approach to it. Some parties openly profess their focus on a particular group, like the AIADMK calling for a separate and special identity of the Dravidian population especially in Tamil Nadu, to the Naga People’s Front which stands for the Naga population and their identity. The left believes that local identities should be protected. This huge diversity is what the left has to assimilate into a much more national mainstream.
In the parliamentary elections in 2019, only two MPs of CPI were elected, which is very unfortunate considering the role the CPI has played. But should we be surprised by this decline of the left parties in India? What was the prerequisite that led to the rise of the left in the first place? Its early electoral success was very much due to the land reforms it undertook, especially in the three states of Kerala, West Bengal, and Tripura, which put an end to feudal practices in agriculture. The reforms were indeed widely popular among the general public, especially peasants, but they didn’t reach everyone, and a huge part of the society was deprived of their benefits, among them women and Dalits. There were many incidents in left-ruled states where land was forcibly taken and given to corporations and a movement of privatisation started.
The CPI and all the left parties have stood for equality, justice, and strong government policies. They have always wanted a bigger say of the government in the economic as well as social sphere. As we know, during the early years of India’s independence the policies that the nation adopted were very much socialist. Over time, the left-leaning leaders in mainstream Indian politics disappeared and centrist and even some right-wing ideas started to pour into the politics of India. Since 2014 it is this wagon of nationalism that parties across the country have to carry if they wish to win in elections. This transition from a socialist republic to a nationalistic state can often be attributed to the failure of the left for not going deeper into Indian society. Even today the left’s image has been somewhat maligned especially in the states where they have historically done well. In Bengal, the left was able to rule the state for seven consecutive terms, with massive landslide victories in all elections. Since 2011, though, there has been a huge decline and a surge of the saffron.
The left has always claimed to be a voice of oppressed people, yet it has never had a Dalit leader. In fact, within the CPI there is a huge disparity between high castes and low castes. Over the years, the Left Front led by the CPI (M) shed members who were committed to communist ideals and the revolutionary aspirations of the working classes. Many of those who remained did so for the sake of power and self-enrichment, some eventually becoming millionaires. CPI (M) leaders such as former Chief Minister of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhatecharjeee increasingly grew friendly towards big corporations, changing tax policies in their favour and welcoming anti-worker legislation such as the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act introduced by the central government. In fact, in the left-ruled states the cases of oppression against Dalits have been increasing.
Another major problem with the left in India has been its hypocritical policies within the party and outside. The left has always been about the working class and poor people, yet most of the time it has displayed a disdain for its major supporters. The left’s growth was mostly due to land reforms, but there has been a shift towards big corporations. There is ever-increasingly an authoritarian behaviour which has dented an already bad image. Until the Indian left goes back to the old roots and the basic ideas of freedom, fraternity, rights for everyone, it will continue to face an existential crisis. A strong powerful left is very important for the democratic future of India.
Now coming to the Indian liberal, they have always been the most confusing entity, mostly individuals who are trying to do a simple copy-paste of what western liberalism stands for. It has never worked and has caused a duplicity in Indian society. Most liberals in India have been somewhat left-leaning but they differ with the leftists on many fronts, so much so that they have established themselves into a whole new entity which at times appears as more progressive but still has regressive elements. Liberals in India have always been under the shadow of the larger left which somehow has assimilated them, but in the past few years the liberals in India have come out of their leftist credentials and have tried to create a space of their own.
Indian liberals are more like frogs in a well. They don’t have a unified platform through which they can make their opinion count in the public sphere. In the US, the liberal-left circle is represented by the Democratic Party. The liberal and the leftist, who at times are going in total opposite directions, have to live under the same roof in the US. But India doesn’t have a two-party system, so the liberals have a good chance to create a specific platform for their ideas. The liberals in India also face a tough problem of reaching out to the majority of the population as they are more concentrated in cities. The liberals have faced some tough resistance from Hindu extremists; it will be a challenge for them to survive in such hostile conditions. Liberalism and leftism haven’t been very much different from each other in India, unlike in the US where those on the far-left want national healthcare and abolishment of the private health system while liberals oppose it. The aim of the liberal-left in India has been somewhat simpler, as they fight against hateful authoritarian ideas and to push for an equitable society, yet it has become ever so difficult in times when right-wing ideologies are taking over.
The other thing which the left-liberal circle has to take into consideration is the need to understand the importance of culture and heritage. They must accept regional diversity as the hallmark of Indian society. The left has to forge a cultural revolution that it can combine with its Marxist-Leninist ideas and in the long run regional parties along with the CPI can make strong inroads especially in the Hindi heartland to make India a stronger socialist country. Elitism has to be fought within the inner circle of the left and weaker sections have to be given more roles in policymaking. The future of the Indian Left will depend on its ability to forge a ‘cultural revolution’ and fuse it with economic egalitarianism, thus retaining at least a semblance of substantive – not merely procedural – democracy in India.

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Jibran Malik