Internal feud between Kerala and West Bengal factions came to the fore within CPM as their highest decision making body – central committee – decided against nominating party general secretary Sitaram Yechury for a third term in Rajya Sabha. The chief architect of this decision is Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who said Yechury would not be able to do justice to his duties both in Parliament and party affairs. Even as internal squabbles break out within the Left it is getting steadily marginalised in national politics. CPM’s Lok Sabha numbers came down from 43 MPs in 2004 to just nine in 2014. The Left needs to make immediate course correction in its ideology to remain relevant in today’s politics.

Yechury’s term expires next month and elections for six seats from Bengal will be held on August 8. The Bengal unit’s proposal was shot down as other state units were opposed to seeking Congress support to re-elect Yechury. Differences between the two factions have been simmering ever since Yechury threw his weight behind CPM having an electoral understanding with Congress in the 2016 Bengal assembly polls.

Though Yechury took the blame for the subsequent poll fiasco, he continues to be a proponent of a broad-based secular alliance. If the Left wants to establish a dynamic equation with Congress – without having to compromise in states where they are in direct contest like Kerala – all it needs to do is take a leaf out of BJP’s book. BJP, for example, opposes beef, yet its state units in north-east and Goa have defended it. The Left could arrive at a similar dual positioning vis-à-vis Congress. The need of the hour is for the Left to address pressing political questions constructively, in a manner that connects with people’s aspirations.