Ideology or power: Left’s great dilemma

Thiruvananthapuram: Left politics in Kerala is at a crossroads, even as the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) remains a formidable electoral force aiming for a third consecutive term under chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. What makes this moment complex is the ideological binaries now playing out within the Left fold as never before.A section of committed Left sympathizers wants CPM, the country's largest Left party, to lose the coming election. They argue the leadership needs to be humbled and that only an electoral setback can bring that about. It is the manner in which Left politics evaporated from West Bengal after 34 years of uninterrupted CPM rule that has prompted a section of leftist intelligentsia, led by poet Sachithanandan, to argue that an LDF defeat would be better for the party and Left politics in the long run.This set of writers and intellectuals is not against CPM per se, nor against its current leadership or its alleged rightward drift. What they fear is the party facing West Bengal's fate, particularly given CPM's tendency to silence internal criticism and sustain itself through an ecosystem of beneficiaries who identify the party with power. The absence of leaders like V S Achuthanandan, who offered internal criticism with ideological clarity, could further accelerate decay if the party wins a third straight term. Electoral failure, they argue, would compel CPM to course-correct and recover lost ideological credibility. Whatever the outcome of the assembly polls, the stance of this critical Left is likely to leave a lasting impression on CPM.A question reverberating within the party is this: If some are more equal than others, what stops others from claiming the same privilege? At its core, it is a question of cadre parity, says social commentator Damodar Prasad. "Many feel a decade in power has eroded the Left ideal, with the party drifting gradually, even if subtly rightward. A course correction is urgent; without it, the very foundations of the Left movement in Kerala could be destroyed," he said. For many, the open wish for an LDF defeat stems from political foresight as much as from fear. To them, any threat to the ideal Left politics is, in multiple ways, a threat to themselves.A large section of CPM activists, however, loathe such open criticism, insisting those who call for the party's defeat cannot be its true well-wishers—a divide that amounts to a vertical split within CPM. "Old-school followers believe CPM will improve if weaned from power—for them, politics is ideology. A larger section thinks the opposite: That the party's future lies in retaining power and that electoral failure cannot cleanse it from within. For them, politics is power," said left activist and critic Dr Azad. He further argued that CPM is yet to recognize it is no longer the sole custodian of Left politics. With BJP entrenched as a far-right force, Congress now embodies the spirit of Left politics nationally. "If CPM abandons left values, it is not Left politics that will wilt, it is CPM," he said.