Rahman is part of the youth brigade charting CPI(M)'s route to once again becoming a key player in state politics. The 30-year old debutant MLA had once been associated with SFI and DYFI, the student and youth wing of the party.

This makes his electoral triumph a vindication of the CPI(M)'s game plan of letting its young activists and leaders be in the forefront. Rahman's win is all the more significant as he defeated his electoral rival Humayun Kabir of Trinamool Congress by more than 16,000 votes when the 2026 poll battle remained locked in a bipolar contest between the BJP and Trinamool Congress.

With BJP campaign charged with majoritarianism and TMC paying lip service to secularism, Rahman faced an uphill task. The local boy registered his .maiden victory without an alliance with the Congress. The Congress fought on its own in 2026 polls and put candidates in all seats of the assembly.

This is in sharp contrast to the defeat of CPI(M)'s state secretary, Md. Salim from Murshidabad in 2024 Lok Sabha election. Rahman's win is all the creditable as Salim had the support of Congress led by its the then state chief, Adhir Ranjan Choudhury. In sum, the charge of the youth brigade of the CPI(M) has started. Though one swallow does not make a summer, the CPI(M) is hoping for an improvement in its political fortune.

Other young CPI(M) leaders who made their mark as candidates and campaigners in the recently concluded election are Dipsita Dhar ,a SFI leader from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Kalatan Dasgupta, Meenakshi Mukherjee, Afreen Begum - to name a few. Always on the lookout for deserters, TMC leaders included Pratik ur Rahman in its ranks; he had contested against TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee from Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha polls in 2024 as the CPI(M) candidate and lost. Pratikur joined TMC early this year and campaigned for TMC. But TMC fared worst in Diamond Harbour, the work zone of the TMC turncoat.

If Pratikur cited intra-party squabbles especially with state secretary, Salim, none of the other youth leaders have broken ranks so far. And though CPI(M) remains numerically insignificant in the state Assembly, the presence of the youth leader has given a much needed shot in the arm to what was perceived as an outfit of veterans. In the 2021 state assembly, both the CPI(M) and the Congress had no representation, but this time, the Congress has two and the CPI(M) one.

The induction of youth in the CPI(M) ranks is different from such a practice in Trinamool Congress where such change opened the flood gates of corruption. Those with questionable characters chose TMC shelter to make money through types of collection of funds. Now after the defeat of the TMC in the 2026 polls, those elements are leaving the party in a hurry and trying to join the new ruling party BJP. Though the state BJP is now saying that they are not ready to allow TMC hooligans in their party, the situation may change after some time. The BJP leadership may start allowing the TMC workers.

The young CPI(M) leaders like Mostafizur, Dipsita and Meenakshi made themselves familiar in the protest movement over the death of the young doctor at RG Kar, teacher recruitment scam and the struggle for democratic rights. They somewhat reestablished the connect with the people. Which the party lost many years ago. Now even after poll setbacks, the young CPIM) leaders are in touch with the people. It does not matter whether they voted for them or not.

The newly elected BJP government started its innings deploying bulldozers to pull down clusters of hawkers shops outside Howrah and Sealdah stations as well as outside New Market. Seizing this issue, young CPI(M) leaders as also veteran CITU leaders hit the streets. Many of the CPI(M) workers spent a whole night with the hawkers to prevent eviction by the police..

Strongly criticising the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the BJP state government, the party with one MLA in the Assembly made its presence felt. Post the hawker eviction movement. taking up the issue of eviction of hawkers has brought back the CPI(M) in focus of state politics once again.

But with Trinamool Congress in doldrums and the Congress seeking a launching pad for agitation, the CPI(M) has certainly enlarged it's political space. No longer can the CPI(M) be dubbed irrelevant in state politics.

The party which ran the affairs of the state for more than three decades and was faced with ignominious poll reverses have tried to punch above its weight. The movement did not seriously affect the newly elected government but it helped the CPI(M) rank and file an opportunity to flex its muscles.

Condemning the anti-hawker drive, CPI(M) state committee has called for "no eviction without rehabilitation " It has also criticized the civic administration and BJP-run railways demanding designated hawker markets only after proper survey and giving licenses.

Thanks to these efforts, no longer can CPI(M) be portrayed as a party of grey haired individuals. There has been an image makeover with grassroot campaign, student politics and social media conversations.

Here is where Left's biggest challenge lies. Protests do not always translate into mandates as people did not vote for the Left despite being appreciative of the services of Red Volunteers, young left activists who had served the people during Covid -19.

The Left has returned to the political arena of the state owing to the visibility of the young leaders. Reels, feeds and digital narratives being more frequent than rallies, the familiarity of the youth brigade with these communication tools have stood in the way of CPI(M) from being relegated to the cobwebs. (IPA Service)