From outside supporters to a force that came in the way of virtually anything and everything that the Government attempted to do, the four Left parties played the role of Opposition in the last 50 months, giving no leg room whatsoever to the UPA.

As the uneasy and at times acrimonious UPA-Left marriage finally ended, The Indian Express scanned through the political statements issued in the last four years by the CPM to find out that majority of them were “opposing”, “criticising” and “advising” the Government on one issue or the other.

The comrades, who enjoyed authority without being in power, began showing the red flag right from the word go and criticised the Government at every stage.

Whether it was opening up of telecom, insurance, civil aviation, agriculture and retail sectors to FDI, divesting shares of public sector units, pension Bill, ordnance to amend Patents Act, foreign policy issues or the Special Economic Zones, they slammed each and every step.

So much so that when the UPA launched its ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Left was engaged in a war of attrition with it over India’s stance at the IAEA over Iran’s nuclear programme and accusing the Government of succumbing to US pressures.

But the parties have been by and large silent on health and education issues except for the on-and-off demands for more budgetary allocation for these sectors.

Out of the 300-odd political statements that the CPM issued in the last 50 months, their opposition and reservations over the Indo-US nuclear deal figured in as many as 50 of them, including those released after the Central Committee and Politburo meetings.

... contd.