Why Indian left is not getting traction in India?

Why does left remain on the periphery of the Indian society and never making inroads to Indian mainstream?

Why does Indian "left" remain as a fighting spirit and not be able to contribute to policy making for the larger India?

Here are some thoughts.

Indian left never understood "India". It doesn't understand today as well. Left didn't understand why Gandhi became so powerful in India. Left doesn't understand why Buddha became a phenomenon in India. Buddha, Mahavira, etc. could only have been born (or more importantly survive until old age without Hindus killing them). Left doesn't understand why Anna Hazare became such a phenomenon. Anna Hazare was used effectively by the likes of Kejrival (for good reasons), because Kejriwal, etc. understood India.

With the western-inspired socio-political analysis, left cannot understand India. I hear from time and again from my (leftist) friends that India is just like any other societies. Yet, they cannot show a figure like Buddha or Gandhi in Europe or America. If you ask Jews or some groups who were at the receiving end for thousands of years in Europe, they will tell you that Europe and India were never the same. Europeans and Americans will give you clues about the difference between lives in India and Europe too early on. A culture of war determined European history. India also had wars. But there were almost never, wars of exterminations like the ones Europeans waged for thousands of years. In India feudalism used God and spirituality among other factors more than violence to maintain the system. Spirituality was the common theme that threaded Indian history.

India was one of the civilization giants in Asia. Indians were not "practical people" in a sense. There were so many practical inventions made by Chinese. Yet not many were invented by Indians. Most of the great Indian minds explored on philosophy and spirituality and theoretical areas like Mathematics. This has been both the strength and weakness of India.

Indians like money and consumerism too. But moral power was always respected by Indian masses and I think this will continue so. That is a strength of India. People like Gandhi understood this.

Do all these things matter for left? Yes. Do leftists become believers or worshippers to connect with Indian masses? I think not. Buddha who lived 2,500 years back was not a believer in any sense of the word. Yet, he got so much attention in India. But to get mainstream traction, Indian left better understand this particular trait of India which I would argue that in fact defines India.

That leads to the next question. What does India left want? What is leftism for that matter?

Well, should people care about these definitions anyway? What matters is what left can do to help people. Get rid of the ideological jargon. Mainstream Indian doesn't like that. Clinging on to them also shows lack of imagination of left.

Here is some agenda for the left that I can think of. These are not based on ideological reasons, but for the benefit of masses and societies.

1) Fundamental equality for all citizens including gender equality.
2) Absolute commitment to secularism.
3) Protection for the poorest and vulnerable sections of the society.
4) Respect for human rights and fundamental rights.
5) Careful balance of environmental preservation along with economic growth. India cannot afford to destroy environment in the name of development.
6) Transparency and accountability in public space. Fight against corruption. Demand time bound answers from public servants.
7) Protect Indian constitution. It is a precious thing we have.
8) Strong defense policy even when following the Indian principle of non-interference in other countries' and societies' affairs, unless it undermines India's security directly. Without a strong defense and the ability to protect borders, no society can remain liberal for long.
9) Commit for universal primary education and universal healthcare. Create a social net for poorest and vulnerable. But cut subsidies meant for middle class and rich (like cooking gas).
10) India still needs a lot of economic growth.
11) There is no reason why gov. supports entities like Air India and almost all PSUs. Unless there is a strategic need (like ISRO), meant to help a lot of poor, or to establish foundation/infrastructure in a new area, gov. get out of doing business. Let private companies make money and let gov. tax them to fund social schemes, etc.
12) Take pride in good Indian traditions. Greatest Indians were Buddha, Gandhi, etc. (European thinkers can remain in books.) One doesn't have to be jingoistic or ignore India's many problems to take pride in India. There is a lot of things to be proud of India. Our way of life ("live, let live" and "coexist with nature" are great ideas). When evolved westerners are discovering the greatness of India, why can't Indian left?
13) Don't try to patronize poor people. Indian villagers are not stupid. they don't need patronization by western-inspired "leftists". But they can use help from educated and knowledgeable people.
14) Don't underestimate the civilization wisdom of Indian villages. Educated people can learn a lot of things from them. Western inspired "isms" cannot last for more than a centuries. We will need our wisdom to survive.

It is a pity that leftism remains rudderless in mainstream India even though India is a poor country and a lot of poor people can benefit from a strong left.

But perhaps left has to get out of its own mental prisons.

Anna Hazare's movement gives all the clues and lessons left wants and needs.

By the way, I believe that for the real left to take off, current leftist parties in India should go bust. The current left has so narrowly defined their agenda for India that it cannot incorporate the larger India. They also have a lot of interests to defend making it effectively all but impossible to think bigger.