Should the Left be leaning towards the Congress?

By Onkar Sawant Bhosle

Back in 2014, before the Lok Sabha elections, BJP, under its new leadership of Modi-Shah duo, had set out on a mission. It always carried its ambition of “Congress-mukt Bharat” (India without Congress) wherever they went. What we often failed to look at was that it was really a battle of ideologies. It was not merely a BJP juggernaut that was at play but communal politics that reared its ugly head in the Indian political landscape once again.  Subsequently, this communal wave (represented by BJP), washed away everything that stood for pluralism—which along with Congress—included the Left.

A look at the status quo

Having formed governments in twenty-two states already, the BJP is inching closer and closer to its dream of “Congress-mukt Bharat” but little attention is paid towards the present condition of the Left-front. The Left is neither institutionally nor ideologically an influential force anymore.  The ongoing crisis in the Left camp is further aggravated by the Tripura assembly results where its 25 years old rule was toppled by the BJP.

At this juncture, the Left essentially has two choices: One, not to bother about electoral fate for now and focus on rebuilding strong grassroots and covering the lost ground; two, align with the Indian National Congress electorally.

The Congress conundrum

While the Congress and the Left may differ about the approaches of economics, they are ideologically on the same page about pluralism and inclusive politics—and consider the Hindutva brand of politics as a threat to this ideology. However, in a situation of an alliance, for Left, it would mean prioritising secularism over socialism in a way.

The Congress has already offered to relinquish its own seat in the Rajya Sabha to offer support to Mr Sitaram Yechury, on the pretext of adding firepower to the opposition bench in the house, thereby clearly sending a signal.

If such an alliance were to be formed, it would have to be based on the Common Minimum Programme that worked beautifully during the first ‘United Progressive Alliance’; which weaved a strong social safety net by setting up rights-based legislation. While Congress’s commitment to this cause cannot be questioned, both the Left and the Congress should find it difficult to strike that delicate balance.

A counterproductive agreement

On the ground, Congress and Left are rivals and have historically opposed one another. The Left has traditionally opposed the neo-liberal policies pursued by both the BJP and the Congress. The Left cadres stand a chance of feeling cheated and alienated by such alliances; especially in states like Kerala, the only strong Left bastion left.

The Left-Congress equation varies state-wise with regional players having varied influences. It is therefore imperative to appreciate the ground realities. Tripura results show that BJP mainly ate into Congress’s vote share, which hurt Manik Sarkar’s chances. A programmatic alliance would only ideologically weaken the Left as we learnt from the Left-Congress alliance in 2016 West Bengal Assembly polls, which crashed, putting the Left in the third position in terms of vote share, behind Congress. In the bargain, the BJP gained some relevance in the state, eating into Left’s vote share. Any Left-Congress alliance, therefore, only stands a chance of creating a vacuum in the vote share, for the BJP to cash in; hence, could prove counterproductive.

Hit refresh

What the Left really needs at this point is something more sustainable than mere shallow cosmetic changes like that of stitching alliances. It needs to start afresh and make itself stronger first. It needs to go back to the basics and build people’s movements in opposition to neo-liberal policies. It needs to engage with the youth and reignite the principles of the likes of Gandhi, Marx, and Ambedkar.

We’re presently living in the crony avatar of capitalism with record unemployment, a high cost of living, and the rich looting and then fleeing the country. Imbecile moves like demonetization and shoddy implementation of GST are all hurting the common man and the marginalised sections of the society. It rather presents the Left with an opportunity to reinvent itself—gain some ground amongst the unemployed youth, frustrated middle-class, neglected lower class, alienated minorities and everyone who feels betrayed and disenfranchised—and inspire faith amongst them that the future belongs to an egalitarian philosophy.

If the need arises in the future where the Left’s support becomes imperative to keep the BJP government at bay, it should extend it without any hesitation. It would be an ideological post-poll alliance which the Left will enter in its much stronger avatar.

A democracy needs contending ideologies to keep each ideology in check. It also requires a strong opposition to hold the incumbent government accountable. Hence, fading of any ideology is undesired in the interest of a healthy democracy. Both the Congress and the Left are like drowning entities right now, and one drowning entity cannot save the other.