But for the generosity of M K Stalin, the newly-anointed chief of Tamil Nadu’s DMK, the Left would have gone nearly unrepresented in the Lok Sabha. The CPI-M, which is in power in its last bastion of Kerala, could manage to send only one member in its own account; even that was by fluke. The CPI drew a blank wherever it contested, except in Tamil Nadu, where the two parties rode piggyback on the DMK bandwagon and won four seats, equally divided between the two.

The irony of the situation is that nearly all of the Left members of the Lok Sabha come from a state where the communists have hardly any roots, except for some notional presence. And wherever they had roots, they have been rejected by the people. This introduces a new element in the relations between the central leadership of the parties, especially the CPI-M, and the state units. The Kerala party, which used to put its foot down with the central leadership on account of it being the only unit to be in power, has lost all legitimate claim to be prime donna.

The Left washout has not surprised anyone, except the communist leaders, who have been living in their own imaginary world and conjuring up grand designs. They are yet to come to terms with the reality and are still looking for alibis and exit routes.

But the fact is that the Left parties, particularly the CPI-M, have suffered a moral degradation of unprecedented proportions as their leaders behave as if they are living in a banana republic. The kith and kin of those who are in control are getting increasingly involved in deals and situations that are the hallmark of crony capitalism. And the party, which is supposed to be driven by communist ideals, is going out of its way to defend the cronies. The Left has moved far away from the people, which they were once drawing strength from. They stand completely alienated so that they are not able to feel the pulse of the people and committing blunder after blunder.

For instance, it took them a complete rout in the elections, for the Kerala CPI-M, led by Stalinist chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to realise that the party and the government were following a dangerous policy of challenging the people while pursuing their own agenda on the issue of women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple. The leadership is still dogged by its characteristic reluctance to accept reality and is cutting a sorry figure in the public eye. Rather than owning up their mistake, the Left Front leaders are blaming Congress and BJP for ‘misleading’ the public, as if they had expected the two parties to come to the aid of the communists so that they could win the elections.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury claims that the big erosion of votes for the party in the Lok Sabha elections was due to BJP’s campaign based on ‘big data analytics and micro-level social engineering’. It is true that big data helps in understanding the mood of the people. But communist parties were never in need of such tools to feel the pulse of the people, because they were so much involved with them. But that is no longer the case today.

Recent developments in the party unit in Kerala, which perhaps has the last community ministry in place, should make every communist hang the head in shame. State party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan is on the back foot, trying to distance himself and the party from the amorous sojourns of his prodigal son, who is at the centre of a rape cum sexual exploitation drama. Balakrishnan had the ignominy of Mumbai police visiting his residences more than once in search of the accused. Although he seems to be taking great pains to put up a defence, he has appeared less than convincing. It is not the first time that the state party secretary has faced embarrassment over the conduct of his sons and neither he nor the party has any qualms about it.

The death of an NRI businessman, who was also a party sympathiser, due to the highhandedness of a municipal chairperson belonging to the party shows the depth to which the Kerala CPI-M has fallen. The chairperson, who happens to be the wife of a self-styled party ideologue and Central Committee member, is reported to have threatened the businessman that he will never be able to open a convention centre that he built with an investment of Rs 15 crore as long as she was at the helm of affairs of the municipality. Driven by desperation over her adamant stand, which has been attributed to factionalism within the party’s district unit, the man took his own life. His family has accused the woman of abetting the suicide, but the party leadership has shamelessly defended her.

The organic degeneration of the CPI-M has reached such a stage that it cannot even see what impact its actions of omissions and commissions have on the people. For a communist party, this gives ominous signal. (IPA Service)