Chandigarh, Sept. 21 -- When the Communist Party of India (CPI) gathers in Punjab for its national congress starting Sunday, the irony will be hard to miss - the Left, once a force to reckon with in the state politics has today been reduced to a near non-existent presence.

Both CPI and CPI (Marxist) have seen their support base shrink in a state once regarded as a nursery of comrades. This even as the state saw the emergence of big names such as Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjit Singh and Satpal Dang in the past few decades.

It has been over 23 years since any Left party last won an assembly seat in Punjab. In 2002, CPI had managed to secure two reserved seats - Malout, represented by Nathu Ram, and Pakka Kalan (now Bathinda rural), repres...