The CPI (M) today said the coming Assembly elections in five states will decide whether the BJP extends its “hegemonic rule” in the entire country, or the opposition to its “authoritarian” drive gains strength. In an editorial in its official journal People’s Democracy, the party said among Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry, going to the polls from 27 March to 29 April, only Assam has a BJP government.

The “capture” of Assam in 2016 helped the BJP advance in the North-east. The party formed governments in Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh subsequently, “by hook or by crook,” the editorial said.

In Assam, the BJP has sought to use the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to advance its communal agenda.

Against the BJP, a combination of seven parties has emerged comprising Congress, AIUDF, CPI (M), CPI, CPI (ML), Anchalik Gana Morcha and Bodoland People’s Front. “This united opposition grouping should be able to give an effective fight to the BJP alliance,” the CPI (M) said.

The CPI (M) and the Left parties have the biggest stakes in West Bengal and Kerala. The situation in West Bengal is the most complicated, the party journal said. The BJP is making a serious bid to capture power in the state.

The 2019 Lok Sabha election saw a polarisation between the TMC and BJP and the latter won 18 of the 42 seats polling 40.6 per cent. The Left Front got squeezed out in this polarisation and got only 7.4 per cent of the vote.

The CPI (M) and the Left Front have been strenuously working to recover lost ground. “The danger of BJP advance in West Bengal is real. This has led some liberal and Left circles outside Bengal to advocate cooperation with the TMC by the CPI (M) and Left Front,” the party journal said.

“This would be suicidal for the Left and actually facilitate a BJP victory. There is strong discontent against the TMC and its thuggish misrule. A soft attitude to Mamata Banerjee and her party on the part of the Left will drive all the anti-TMC voters into the arms of the BJP,” the editorial said.

“In fact, it is the projection of an alternative combination of the Left Front, Congress and other non-BJP, non-TMC forces that can rally these people and deprive the BJP of additional support,” the CPI (M) said.

The contest in Kerala is between the LDF and the UDF. The BJP is aspiring to become the third pole. Throughout last year, the Congress worked in tandem with the BJP in raising allegations against the LDF government and the chief minister regarding the gold smuggling and other cases.

Rejecting this anti-LDF tirade, the people gave a resounding mandate to the LDF in the local body election in November, 2020.