ABSTRACT
The Left has suffered one electoral defeat after another, especially since the 2009 and 2014 national elections in India. Its electoral strength at the national level has been considerably reduced. The electoral defeat of the Indian Left is unfortunate, if not unexpected. But history has provided the Left with an opportunity for rethinking its political strategy. Elections must be used for ideological and mobilizational purposes—for educating the masses and sections of the middle class about the failure of the ruling classes and their governments and about the potential for radical change, and not primarily to occupy positions within the state. Jobs can be created; people's productive power can be developed; modern technology can be adopted ; and people can expand their needs which make for a better quality of life. An important aim of ideological education is to denaturalize the current state of affairs.
