Caste,cash,communalism and criminalisation – but no Communism

In fact in the 57-year-old history of general elections,only 18 candidates of Left parties represented UP in the Lok Sabha.

While the CPI registered its last victory from Ghazipur seat in 1991 when its candidate Vishwanath Shastri was elected to Lok Sabha,Subhashini Ali,who emerged victorious from Kanpur seat in 1989,was the last CPI-M candidate to make an entry into Lok Sabha.

The poor run of the Left parties could be gauged from the fact that in the last general elections held in 2004 as many as 18 candidates including six of CPI,10 of CPI-M and two of CPI-M(L) contested from UP,but none of them were able to win confidence and support of the electorate.

In fact barring one,all the 17 “commorades” lost their deposits and accounted for less than half per cent votes.

Even CPI secretary and candidate from Ghosi parliamentary constituency Atul Kumar Anjan admitted that the Left had lost its ground in this politically important state with the rise of casteism and communalisation.

“In current scenario communalism,capitalism and caste dominate the politics. While Left always pratise issue based politics,leaders of opposition parties have diverted the attention of the electorate from this vital piont,” he said.

The Left succeeded in breaking the ground only in the second general election held in 1957,when one of its candidates made it to Parliament. At that time,the CPI fileded candidates from eight constituencies.

However,its best performance came in 1967,when six candidates were elected to the Lok Sabha.

Of this,five seats were won by the CPI and one by CPI-M.

Both the parties’ vote percentage aggregated to 4.46 per cent,with CPI having the major share of 3.26 per cent.

In the next general election held in 1971,the CPI fielded nine candidates of which four were elected to the Lok Sabha.

In fact,in 1971,the CPI’s vote percentage increased to an all time high of 4.11 per cent. Since then the Left has had a roller coaster ride.

It failed to win even a single seat in the 1977 polls,the first general election after the emergency. It tasted victory in only one seat in 1980,only to loose it again in 1984.

Over this period of time,not only the Left continued to face political drought in the state,their vote share also declined considerably.