HYDERABAD: It looks like the Assembly elections in Telangana, once a hotbed of communist movement, has sounded the death knell of communist politics in the State. The Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) failed to win a single seat and their combined vote share is less than one per cent.
While the complete decimation of communist parties from political relevance in the region can be gauged from the results in this elections, the situation was different for these parties in the past. In 1952, for instance, when the Hyderabad Legislative Elections were held, the mass front of Communist Party of India had won 35 seats in districts under Telangana region.
Apart from this there were other left-oriented parties like the Socialist Party and Peasants and Workers Party of India which also won a f ew seats in that election. In 2004, the left parties had some relevance. That time the alliance parties’ objective was to defeat the ruling dispensation TDP. CPI had then won four seats while CPI (M) took six seats.
In several other constituencies, the two communist parties gave a tough competition to their opponents. In 2009, CPI managed to win four seats and CPM just one. However, the 2014 elections marked the start of their decline as both won only one seat each in Telangana. With both parties failing to open their account this time, it looks like it is the end of the communism in the State