Left's Demise?

The left parties decision to withdraw support to the UPA government in India over the Indo-US Nuclear Deal brings to a close a four year alliance that was brought together just to keep the communal parties i.e. BJP at bay.

When the UPA government came to power four years ago, the Left parties accounted for 22% of the ruling coalition providing them with an opportunity to establish themselves on the national stage. But alas as the last four years have proven, not only has the Left been a sour team player on the national stage, it has also lost its way in its traditional stronghold of West Bengal with defeats in the panchayat elections in Nandhigram and Singur and defeats in the civic body elections

In a blog posting for CNN IBN, Sagarika Ghosh writes an Open Letter to the Left highlighting the same topic.