Shift from Armed Revolution to Parliamentary Politics

• Left-wing revolutionary groups, guided by ideologies like Marxism-Leninism and Maoism, are transitioning towards democratic engagement.

• Insurgencies like Nepal’s Maoists, El Salvador’s FMLN, and certain Marxist-Leninist groups in India have entered parliamentary politics.

• The shift reflects a pragmatic blend of ideological adaptation and responsiveness to changing political realities.

• Insurgencies believe dismantling the capitalist state is necessary for social justice and view it as biased towards elite interests.

• Prolonged insurgency requires extensive resources, popular support, and resilience to withstand state counterinsurgency tactics.

• The harsh realities of insurgency often reveal public sentiment may shift against sustained violence, spurring some factions to experiment with political engagement.

• In Nepal, Maoist insurgency played a pivotal role in transitioning Nepal to a federal democratic republic by 2008.

• In El Salvador, FMLN fought a civil war throughout the 1980s, aiming to overthrow a U.S.-backed government until the 1992 peace accords enabled their shift from an insurgent group to a legitimate political party.

• In India, the Communist Party of India (Maoist) continues to pursue armed insurgency, but other Maoist factions have abandoned armed struggle.

• In Sri Lanka, the JVP in Sri Lanka reoriented its Marxist-Leninist-Maoist roots to advocate for social justice within a democratic structure.

• The transition from insurgency to Electoral Politics reflects a pragmatic shift acknowledging that violent revolution is not the only path to power.