With its defeat in the Kerala Assembly election, the Left parties are not in power in any State for the first time since 1977. The setback has sharpened questions over the political strategy of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. During its campaign, the Congress had accused the ruling party of colluding with the BJP, with the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, branding the CPI(M) as the “Communist Janata Party”.

CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby rejected the charge, calling it a “deliberate” and “distorted” narrative aimed at tarnishing the party’s image. “CPI(M) stands by all sections of people, we have always supported the socially excluded both in terms of religion and caste,” he said.