By IANS
New Delhi : The Left parties were Friday mauled in Uttar Pradesh, a state where they were once a major political force, but rejoiced over the decimation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) failed to win a single seat in the state's 403-member assembly.
"The Left should do an introspection as we have not been able to make any impact in the Hindi heartland," CPI deputy leader D. Raja told IANS.
The CPI-M, CPI, Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party had fought the Uttar Pradesh elections individually.
While Forward Bloc and CPI-M were soft towards Samajwadi Party, the CPI opposed it fiercely and joined hands with former prime minister V.P. Singh's Jan Morcha.
When CPI-M fielded only nine candidates, the CPI fielded 22, Forward Bloc 12 and RSP nine candidates.
"It was Mulayam Singh's over confidence that led to his defeat. He could have taken leadership in forging a non-Congress, non-BJP secular front," Forward Bloc leader G. Devrajan said.
But Raja felt that Mulayam Singh's defeat was good news. "We are happy that Mulayam Singh and BJP are defeated," he said.
The BJP's performance in Uttar Pradesh was the worst since 1991. It finished at the third position with just 50 seats.
Both before India's independence and for some years later, the then undivided CPI was a major political force in Uttar Pradesh.