The democratic left in India is in deep crisis. During the first decade of the century it has slid from its highest parliamentary presence to virtual irrelevance. A key to its retrieval, this book argues, lies in its ability to imagine a new popular politics for reinventing its democratic credentials beyond mere electoral posturing. In this respect, much can be learnt from the left’s own governmental practices as they evolved since the late 1960s, crafting a unique blend of politics, policy, idealism, practicality, vision and delivery. By looking at the problematic of government from the days of deft land reforms to messy land acquisition, the book situates ‘government as practice’ as a prism for critical thinking on democratic politics in postcolonial India. Grounded in empirical and archival research, the book is useful for those passionate as well as sceptical about the revival potentials of a new left in India’s fast changing political economy.

1. Inception: Government as Practice
2. Consolidation: Land Reforms
3. Agency: School Teachers
4. Machinery: Party Society
5. Implosion: Singur, Nandigram
Appendix I: The Left through Elections
Appendix II: Local Governance and Electability
Bibliography
Index

"Discusses the strategies of governance deployed by the mainstream Left in India"--