The crisis of the Left in Telangana

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or the CPI (M)’s Telangana State committee appears to be at a crossroads. With less than three years for Assembly elections in the State, the party seems to be facing multiple challenges which are impacting its efforts to revive electoral fortunes of the past. With its sizeable vote bank, especially in the Nalgonda and Khammam districts, the party used to play a key role in the victory of its allies, mainly the Congress and later the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

But, the party’s prospects have undergone a sea change, after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, with the party winning just one Assembly seat, Bhadrachalam, in 2014 and drawing a blank in the elections in 2018 and 2023. 

The results of the recent elections to the urban and rural local bodies have revealed the party’s situation at the ground level. Its supporters have come down significantly. The party could barely win a few wards in the municipal elections as well as in the elections to the sarpanch posts, although the latter elections are not contested on party symbols. Such an absence of votes and the subsequent lack of representation in the Assembly has dampened the spirits of CPI (M) activists who had long been associated with the party. This has yet again exposed the CPI (M)’s weakness in converting its grassroots support to actual votes.

Crisis of leadership

Coming at this juncture was the party’s central leadership’s decision to censure senior leader Tammineni Veerabhadram which has caused consternation among a section of CPI (M) leaders and cadre. The central committee felt that instead of increasing the party’s influence among the people, it faced questions about its survival when Mr. Veerabhadram was at the helm. Mr. Veerabhadram was reportedly also faulted for not taking steps to infuse new blood into the party.

This is not the first time the senior leader has been reproached by the central leadership. Mr. Veerabhadram had earlier been reprimanded by the CPI (M) central committee when he, then State Secretary of the party, had formed the Bahujan Left Front in the runup to the 2018 elections, allegedly projecting the candidates on caste lines. The central committee felt that the emphasis on caste identity had reduced the alliance to a caste-based front, which was a major departure from the CPI (M)’s basic position.

However, senior members were keen to emphasise that such disciplinary actions against senior leaders were not new, as similar measures have been taken against leaders such as Kerala’s V.S. Achutanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan in the past. There are six stages of disciplinary actions in the party — warning, censure, public censure, removal from the party post, suspension from full party membership for a period not exceeding one year, and expulsion. CPI (M) Polit Bureau member B.V. Raghavulu said that Mr. Veerabhadram’s issue was the party’s internal affair, and that it would not have any impact on its plans in the future. The party was now focussed on drawing up a policy agenda, the implementation of which will be of paramount importance for political parties to safeguard the rights of the working classes and help in alleviating the sufferings of the poor, he said.

Similarly, political analyst Telakapalli Ravi also stated that “this is not the severest action. Mr. Veerabhadram will continue as a special invitee to the State Secretariat meetings. That’s why senior leaders did not make any public statement on the development”. 

The need for new blood

There is a definite lack of interest among the youth to join Left-aligned parties. “You have to take steps to attract youth and ensure that the past mistakes are rectified,” Mr. Ravi said.

The party has made changes in its top leadership in Telangana ever since bringing in John Wesley as State Secretary, and by encouraging leaders such as Mallu Lakshmi, daughter-in-law of Telangana Armed Struggle veteran Mallu Swarajyam as part of efforts to infuse new blood into the party ranks. “You will see the aggression returning to the party soon,” CPI (M) general secretary M.A. Baby recently said.

Hopefully, the CPI (M) will take to its agitational path again on issues of public importance. However, the party has to evolve and find ways to convert its mass support base into votes, a dream that currently remains distant.