As votes are being counted, multiple states offer the same verdict: the Left is losing ground.
In West Bengal, the contest was always expected to be between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. In Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Puducherry, the Left survives only in limited pockets. But the story of 2026 is Kerala: the Left’s last remaining stronghold is gone.
WEST BENGAL: TO THE MARGINS
In the 2026 West Bengal polls, the Left, counting the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the All India Students’ Federation, together, is leading in just two seats, with a vote share of 4.4 per cent. The contest is now a straight fight between the BJP, which has surged to 192 seats, and the TMC — the Left is a footnote.
This is the same party that once ruled West Bengal for an uninterrupted 34 years. At its peak in 2006, the CPI(M)-led Left Front won 227 seats with a commanding 48.4 per cent vote share, nearly half of every vote cast in the state.
Then came 2011, and Mamata Banerjee’s TMC ended that reign. The decline since has been swift and unsparing: 60 seats and 39.7 per cent votes in 2011, 32 seats and 26.2 per cent votes in 2016, and in 2021, a complete wipe out, with zero seats, just 5.7 per cent of the vote. In 2026, that number has fallen further still, to 4.4 per cent.
KERALA: FALL OF THE LAST FORTRESS
As of 3:05 pm, the Left Democratic Front was leading in just 34 seats, with a vote share of 28.2 per cent. This is not just a loss; it is the Left’s weakest performance in Kerala in electoral history.
The 2026 Kerala Assembly polls are the first time its vote share has dropped below 30 per cent. This is the same party that just five years ago returned to power with 79 seats and 34.3 per cent of votes.
TRIPURA: DOMINANCE TO DISAPPEARANCE
Tripura tells a similar story. The CPI(M), which governed the state for two decades, won 49 seats in 2013. But in 2018, the BJP ended that dominance, and the CPI(M) collapsed to 16 seats. The Communist Party of India, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, and the Forward Bloc failed to open their accounts that year, a trend that has not reversed since.
THE LOK SABHA STORY
In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M) won 33 seats. By 2004, that number rose to 43, with a vote share of 5.7 per cent — its best-ever performance in a general election.
Then came a dramatic reversal. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party managed just four seats, with its vote share shrinking to 1.8 per cent. The CPI followed a similar trajectory, falling from 10 seats in 2004 to just two in 2024.
The Forward Bloc and the RSP won none. Over six elections, the Left went from a bloc of more than 50 Lok Sabha seats to a marginal presence.
Note: Figures as of 3:35 PM for West Bengal and 3:05 PM for Kerala. Based on counting trends. Counting is ongoing.
– Ends
