Party Formation, Political Power, and the Capacity for Reform: Comparing Left Parties in Kerala and West Bengal, India

This article discusses the concept of “party formation” that is, the historically evolved links between a party and the civil society from which its political power is derived. This concept is developed through an empirical analysis of differences in poverty eradication by leftist parties in the states of Kerala and West Bengal, India. The argument is made that the ostensibly common identity of a Communist party in the two cases conceals different “party formations.” In Kerala, it evolved as a more popular party, with deeper roots in civil society, while in West Bengal it was much weaker. These differences are attributed to the political practices of each party during the anticolonial movement, the structural conditions within which each had to function, and the consequent variations in political power.