Left needs a new narrative outside campus politics

This refers to the editorial, “A giant leap” (March 5). The Left’s abysmal performance in the just concluded elections shows its waning popularity among agricultural workers, tribals, semi-skilled workers and farmers who have historically identified themselves with the sickle. The very downfall of the incumbent Governments in the three north-eastern States despite they ‘enjoying popular support’ shows that voters cannot be lured away from development-oriented politics of the BJP by giving false assurances of “equal distribution of poverty” and “secular” governance. That India, under the stewardship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stands out among the fastest growing economies of the world despite tumultuous international developments and radical domestic policy actions, shows that macroeconomic and political stability is the foundation of its economic success.

While the BJP must be lauded for its stellar performance in the North-East, their victory in the Communist bastion should serve as a warning signal to the Left parties to reorient their structure and devise strategies that can help arrest their continuing electoral decline. Merely extending passionate support to student uprisings in universities and dismissing every policy of the Government as anti-poor in the hope of connecting with their traditional support groups as an ideology has outlived its time. The sooner it is abandoned, the better it will be for the Left. It must come up with fresh ideas and dynamic leadership, both at the Center and in States, if it wants to present itself as a serious player outside university campuses.