What’s Left of the Left: 100 Years of Left Politics in India

“Yes, we must fight, struggle, be ready for defeats and disappointments, but once we have consciously set our feet on the right road, with a clear vision of the task ahead, nothing can daunt us and all causes for pessimism disappear.” M.N. Roy, On Non-Violence and the Masses (1923)

Perhaps it is when the mills in Bombay became malls in Mumbai that one began to understand that what the Communists in India set out to achieve once is turning into an impossible dream. It was in 1925 that the Communist Party of India was born in Kanpur with ideas that were derived from elsewhere and set the ground for struggle for equality and for workers’ rights. MN Roy was among the founders. The dreamers of equality had wanted India to be a socialist state and opposed capitalism but over the next hundred years, they split into many Left mass movements and somehow, lost ground to those that strived to make India a Hindu Rashtra.

The year 2025 marks the clash of ideologies and their dilemmas going forward with their respective ideas of the idea of India that remains elusive to many and can’t be contained within one ideological field. Three institutions were formalised and were announced. The RSS, the Communist Party of India and the Self-Respect Movement. They woke up many souls in different parts and in different ways and as people swore their loyalty to one or the other, the clashes between them became more pronounced and each of these institutions and movements claimed to define India and Indians and each in their own has framed the question of who is an Indian based on their ideas and ideologies. While the Left is faced with an identity crisis, the RSS has not only survived but has grown and with the BJP in power at the centre and in several states.

The identity crisis plagues the three ideologies that are observing their centenary this year in a nation that defies all predictions and all calculations and remains a complex society that is still dealing with caste and class issues that aren’t distinct but intertwined in ways that have made it difficult for the Left to address what they had sought out to—labour laws, land reforms and welfare policies. That the Communists and socialists had a conscience is not a debatable topic. What’s intriguing is that they are now faced with an identity crisis in spite of it.

In the 1960s, ideological differences made the Communist Party of India split into the CPI and CPI(M). Armed struggle was met with greater state violence and the communists and the leftists finally decided to work within the ambit of Indian Democracy fighting elections to come in power to continue their fight for social justice.

But the Left finds itself at an interesting and challenging crossroad now. Caste continues to rear its ugly head in India and inform electoral choices and religious divide continues to polarise India, especially after the 2014 general elections that saw the BJP come into power with their right-wing politics that also meant more conservatism in economic matters and over time, India began to shift more towards opening itself to foreign ideas and trade policies and privatisation.

The Left needs to adapt. And perhaps it will do so. The dream isn’t dead yet. This was a movement that was born of fairness and conviction to challenge the nexus of power and capital. The poor still struggle. The oppressed still bear the burden of discrimination. The gap between the rich and the poor has only widened and everything seems to be in a state of churning.

There is some hope juxtaposed with a lot of despair. There are places where progressive ideas are still being adopted and fought for. The armed struggle is being crushed everywhere with naxals surrendering to the might of the state power. Defeats and disappointments haunt the Left.

But there is some hope for redemption and reconfiguration. Of reformation and renovation. There is always a second and a third chance.

This issue that examines the cracks in the Left movement over the last century and the growing necessity for a rethink is the last one of Outlook’s trilogy on the RSS, the Dravidian Movement and the Left.

The story of the Indian Left, explored in the December 21 issue What’s Left of the Left, is a century-long journey rooted in local struggles for justice. As M.A. Baby, CPI(M) General Secretary, notes, its origins lie not in distant ideologies but in homegrown movements—from reformers like Vaikunta Swamikal to revolutionary anti-colonial struggles.

Yet, as Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary, observes, the Left’s trajectory has been uneven, with missed opportunities and internal fractures coinciding with the rise of a resurgent Right. The RSS has embedded itself institutionally and ideologically, reshaping politics, law, and the very notion of a “New India,” making the Left’s decline a threat not just to itself, but to democratic values.

Electoral strategies have also strained the Left’s relationship with minority communities. JNU Professor Amir Ali highlights the CPI(M)’s “Muslim problem,” where attempts to simultaneously appeal to Hindu nationalist and Muslim voters often alienate both, benefiting the BJP. In Kerala, the CPI(M) has at times presented itself as the sole protector of Muslims, warning that without its leadership, the community has no defence against the Right—a transactional approach that undercuts genuine engagement and risks alienation.

Despite these challenges, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat stresses that a strong Left remains vital. By defending equality, welfare, and workers’ rights, it challenges right-wing power and seeks to protect marginalised communities from the erosive effects of neoliberalism and the Hindutva-corporate nexus. Yet internal gaps, most notably gender inequality, cannot be ignored.

Author Saira Shah Halim points out that women continue to face structural barriers to leadership, even as they form the backbone of movements. Student activism, too, remains crucial; as JNU Student Union President Aditi notes, campuses like JNU continue to be vital arenas for debate on caste, democracy, and civil rights, even under intensified right-wing pressures.

The Left’s structural weaknesses extend beyond gender and youth. Ajay Gudavarthy highlights the decline of the Left among broader social groups, with elite-dominated spaces and the drift of many Bahujan communities toward the Right. Caste, too, remains a persistent blind spot.

N.K. Bhoopesh revisits Ambedkar’s critique of the Left’s “Brahmin boy” leadership, showing how neglect of caste issues has weakened ties with Dalits, Adivasis, and other marginalized groups. Institutional vulnerabilities, such as Supreme Court rulings granting Governors unchecked power, further threaten democratic protections, underscoring the fragility of political gains.