India, Aug. 25 -- Once upon a time, there were Left Front governments in three states-West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala. We used to say that communism was still alive in these three states, while half a province existed in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the other half in Jadavpur University.

But after decades of political change, West Bengal has now been taken over by the BJP. The Left Front ruled Bengal for 34 years, followed by Mamata Banerjee's 15-year tenure. In Kerala, the Congress is now in power, while Tripura is ruled by the BJP.

At JNU, too, the political culture began to change gradually after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014. The installation of a statue of Swami Vivekananda on the campus sparked considerable ...