They were once potent political forces in Maharashtra but gradually saw their space being eroded by changing circumstances. However, parties like the Janata Dal (Secular), Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) are looking at the Lok Sabha polls to revive their fortunes. The Janata Dal (S), which in its version as the Janata Party, was a force to reckon with in Maharashtra, may contest from the Aurangabad, Palghar, and Sangli Lok Sabha segments. However, while the party was looking at an alliance with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) led by former MP Prakash Ambedkar, the later was forced to relent and hand over the Aurangabad seat to the All India Majlis E Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The JD (S) had announced the candidature of Justice (Retired) BG Kolse Patil from Aurangabad. However, the VBA's support to Kolse-Patil was resented by the AIMIM, which is an ally of the party, leading to AIMIM MLA from Aurangabad, Imtiaz Jaleel, being declared as the nominee. The party's state unit chief and former legislator Sharad Patil admitted their alliance talks with the VBA had hit an air pocket. The JD (S) and its previous avatars like the Socialist Party and the Janata Party, boasted of leaders like Barrister Nath Pai, Madhu Dandawate, Madhu Limaye, George Fernandes and Mrinaltai Gore. Its fortunes dwindled from 19 MPs from Maharashtra in 1977 to just five in 1989. Subsequently, it has drawn a blank. Its seats in the assembly too fell from 99 in 1978, when it got 27.99% votes, to just 2 in 1999 (1.5% votes) after which it has failed to get anyone elected despite presence in areas like Malegaon, Purandar and Miraj. The CPI is eager to join hands with the Congress-NCP and is pitching the late party leader Govind Pansare's son-in-law Bansi Satpute from the Shirdi constituency. The CPI's state secretary Bhalchandra Kango said they were seeking either the Shirdi or Parbhani constituencies. In 2014, the CPI had fought from four constituencies—South Mumbai, Bhiwandi, Gadchiroli and Parbhani. "We have requested the Congress-NCP and talks are on," Kango added. Satpute, an advocate and member of the CPI's farmers front's national council, said he would fight from Shirdi, which is represented by the Shiv Sena's Sadashiv Lokhande, even if the alliance with the Congress-NCP fell through. Pansare, a senior Left leader and one of Maharashtra's foremost public intellectuals, was fatally shot at by assailants who are still at large, outside his Kolhapur residence in 2015. The last CPI MP was Sudamkaka Deshmukh from Amravati in 1989. Madhavrao Gaikwad from Manmad and Namdeorao Kale from Wani were the last CPI nominees to be elected to the assembly in 1995. The CPI-M too was trying for a seat-sharing deal with the Congress alliance for the Dindori and Palghar Lok Sabha seats. However, the NCP had announced the candidature of former Sena MLA Dhanraj Mahale from Dindori. "We have decided to field Jeeva Pandu Gavit from Dindori and a decision on Palghar will be taken on Tuesday," said senior CPI-M leader Ashok Dhawale. Gavit is the party's lone legislator in Maharashtra. Though the CPI-M's representation in Maharashtra has dropped from three in 2004 to one each in 2009 and 2014, its retains its pockets of influence in areas like Dahanu, Solapur city and Kalwan in Nashik. Maharashtra has not sent a CPI-M nominee to the Lok Sabha after Ramchandra Ghangare who defeated former union minister Vasant Sathe of the Congress from Wardha in 1991. Once a potent force in Maharashtra politics—the stalwarts of the Communist movement and the then undivided CPI like S A Dange, B T Ranadive, S S Mirajkar, Godavari and Shamrao Parulekar and Ahilyatai Rangnekar hailed from the state—the Parliamentary Left has seen a gradual decline in its electoral fortunes. This is a far cry from the days when leaders like Dange held sway over the textile labour belt in Mumbai. However, it retains a strong presence in the labour sector.

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