What's left of the Left in Karnataka?

Communist parties will contest the May 10 Assembly election, but the Left as an ideological force has lost ground in Karnataka in the last four decades.

The Socialist Unity Centre of India - Communist (SUCI-C) has announced candidates in 13 Assembly constituencies, including Rajajinagar in Bengaluru.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has decided to field Dr Anil Kumar Avulappa - a general surgeon who made headlines for his social work during the Covid-19 pandemic - from Bagepalli.

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The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Liberation) will field trade unionist P P Appanna from KR Puram. It is discussing contesting Yeshwanthpur and Kanakagiri as well.

But gone are those days when Communist stalwarts such as M S Krishnan (Rajajinagar), Pampapathi (Davangere) and G V Sriram Reddy (Bagepalli) regularly won elections.

“Communist parties drew strength from trade unions. But trade unions themselves have become weak after globalisation,” advocate-activist Vinay K Sreenivasa said, explaining the decline of Left politics in Karnataka. The growth of the Right has meant that the Left could not attract younger people beyond trade unions, he said. “And, the decline of class politics as opposed to today’s caste-based identity politics is another major reason,” he added.

In the 2018 Assembly election, the Left parties managed to poll just 0.53% of votes in Karnataka.

The SUCI-C wanted to form an alliance with six other parties - Swaraj India, Republican Party of India, CPI, CPM, CPI (ML) and the Forward Bloc. “Together, we managed to grow a movement, especially after Covid-19, against the farm laws and anti-labour policies. But when it comes to politics, the others are more interested in defeating the BJP by supporting Congress so that votes don’t get divided,” SUCI-C state secretary K Uma said.

CPI(ML) central committee member Clifton D’Rozario said the Left could not meet challenges in the 1990s posed by the “twin assault” of communalism and the neo-liberal. “The work that had to be done in a big way didn’t happen,” he said. “As far as our party is concerned, our stand since 2018 is that the threat of fascism in India is large and BJP is the face of it. The battle is long and defeating BJP has to be a priority for all parties,” he added.

Places like Bagepalli still have support for Communism. In 2018, CPM’s Reddy stood second with over 51,000 votes, a 31.42% share. “In Bagepalli, the base was built based on work,” Sreenivasa said. “And such a base won’t go easily.”