1996 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election

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1996 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election
Flag of India.svg
  1991 13 May 1996 2001  

All 294 seats in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly
148 seats needed for a majority
Turnout82.94% (Increase2.svg 6.14 pp)
 Majority partyMinority party
 
Jyoti Basu - Calcutta 1996-12-21 089 Cropped.png
Hand INC.svg
Leader Jyoti Basu Somen Mitra
Party CPI(M) INC(I)
Alliance LF INC(I) + JMM
Leader's seat Satgachhia Sealdah
Last election36.87%, 182 seats35.12%, 43 seats
Seats won15382
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 29Increase2.svg 39
Popular vote13,670,19814,523,964
Percentage37.16%39.48%
SwingIncrease2.svg 1.05 pp Increase2.svg 4.36 pp

Chief Minister before election

Jyoti Basu
CPI(M)

Elected Chief Minister

Jyoti Basu
CPI(M)

Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1996. The election took place simultaneously with the 1996 Indian general election. [1] [2] This was the last election Jyoti Basu contested, as he retired from politics in 2000.

Contents

Parties

Left Front

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had fielded 70 new candidates, but many of them failed to get elected. [3] The All India Forward Bloc had suffered a split before the election, with the emergence of the Forward Bloc (Socialist). [3]

The Left Front supported Janata Dal candidates in five constituencies.

Indian National Congress

Factionalism was rife within the state Congress unit. After being out of power in the state for about 20 years with no significant increase in either vote-share or number of seats in the last 15 years, most state Congress leaders had given up the hopes of defeating the Left Front & sought to re-evaluate their strategy. The elections took place alongside the general elections, in which there were 4 major players - the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Hindu right wing alliance, the centre-left alliance led by Janata Dal made up of Congress dissidents, the centrist alliance of the Congress party & the leftist alliance of Communist parties, out of which the BJP & JD didn't had much influence in the state. In 1991, the Congress under P. V. Narasimha Rao was able to form a minority government with the support of the Janata Dal, however Rao's tenure saw the Congress rife with defection of some of its senior leaders & charges of corruption. The political climate of India was charged with the issue of Ram-mandir, following the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. The BJP made the construction of Ram-mandir on the Ram Janmabhoomi site its primary electoral promise while the Janata Dal banked on the implementation of the Mandal Commission report as its main electoral plank in order to counter the BJP, leading to conflict between OBC & SC groups. However, the Mandir-Mandal issue didn't had much impact in the politics of the state which had been under Communist rule since 1977. As the Janata Dal was open to supporting both BJP & Congress, the support of the Left Front became the more important on the national stage. CPI(M) stalwart & the incumbent Chief Minister Jyoti Basu had been even offered the post of Prime Minister by the Congress when the Janata Dal government of V. P. Singh collapsed in 1990 due to BJP's withdrawal of support & again when the Congress withdrew its support from Chandra Shekhar's government in 1991.

In midst of such political instability, 2 factions developed within the state Congress unit. One faction led by Pranab Mukherjee was in favour of forging an electoral understanding with the Left Front in the state in order to gain their support on the national level. The other faction led by anti-Communist leaders like Siddharta Shankar Ray & Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was stauchly opposed to it. The rivalry between these 2 groups played out in open during the 1992 elections to the post of state PCC president. The pro-Communist faction sided with Mukherjee's protégé, 4-time Sealdah MLA Somen Mitra, while the anti-Communist faction sided with Ray's protégé, state Youth Congress president & South Kolkata MP Mamata Banerjee. [4] Mukherjee played a decisive role in ensuring Mitra's victory in this election by having Banerjee's main supporter Ray sent out of the state as India's ambassador to the US at that time. Somen Mitra's and Mamata Banerjee's factions continued to fight over the choice of candidates to be fielded. [5] Banerjee played an important role in rallying public support for the party & fielding many new faces from the Youth Congress as the party's candidate. [5] [6]

The Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury contested the Nabagram seat from jail, being imprisoned on murder charges. [7] His speeches were recorded from prison and played at campaign meetings. [7]

The Indian National Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had entered into alliance. [8]

Results

The Left Front won the election, entering into government for a fifth consecutive term. [3] Winning 203 out of 294 seats, the 1996 election represented the first major electoral set-back for the Left Front since its foundation. [9] [10] The electoral losses were primarily felt in Calcutta and the industrial areas, and nine incumbent Left Front ministers failed to get re-elected. [9] All JD candidates finished in second place and RCPI lost its representation in the assembly. [10] However, in terms of votes the Left Front and the five JD candidates got 18,143,795 votes (49.3%). [11] Jyoti Basu's fifth Left Front government was sworn in, with 48 ministers representing all 13 districts of the state. [9]

PartyCandidatesSeatsVotes%
Left Front and allies Communist Party of India (Marxist) 21315313,670,19837.16
All India Forward Bloc 34211,912,1835.20
Revolutionary Socialist Party 23181,367,4393.72
Communist Party of India 126642,9931.75
Marxist Forward Bloc 22150,0990.41
Democratic Socialist Party (Prabodh Chandra) 22129,3670.35
Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Rasik Bhatt) 20105,3660.29
Biplobi Bangla Congress 1160,4530.16
Janata Dal 50105,6970.29
Indian National Congress 2888214,523,96439.48
Bharatiya Janata Party 29202,372,4806.45
Gorkha National Liberation Front 33161,4980.44
Jharkhand Party (Naren) 81145,5030.40
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha 260134,4360.37
Forward Bloc (Socialist) 201123,3160.34
Bahujan Samaj Party 48067,8530.18
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation 30047,2060.13
Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League 3043,2610.12
All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) 29020,5550.06
Muslim League 20019,2210.05
Amra Bangalee 46017,3300.05
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Mardi)5011,5930.03
Pachim Banga Rajya Muslim League505,3590.01
Indian National League 704,4800.01
Social Action Party 1604,4760.01
Jharkhand Party 503,5330.01
Hul Jharkhand Party 203,3090.01
Bharatiya Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh 202,4480.01
Samajwadi Jan Parishad 201,2180.00
Indian Democratic People's Party305150.00
All India Christian Democratic and Backward People's Party103920.00
Indian Union Muslim League102510.00
Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha 201780.00
Akhil Bharatiya Jan Sangh10490.00
Independents8444898,6772.44
Total2,03529436,788,753100
Source: Election Commission of India [10]

Elected members

ConstituencyReserved for
(SC/ST/None)
MemberParty
MekliganjSCRamesh Roy All India Forward Bloc
SitalkuchiSCSudhir Pramanik Communist Party of India
MathabhangaSCDinesh Chandra Dakua Communist Party of India
Cooch Behar NorthNone Mihir Goswami Indian National Congress
Cooch Behar WestNoneSoumindra Chandra Das All India Forward Bloc
SitaiNoneMd. Fazle Haque Independent
DinhataNone Kamal Guha Forward Bloc
NatabariNoneSibendra Narayan Chowdhuri Communist Party of India
TufanganjSCPuspa Chandra Das Communist Party of India
KumargramSTSalib Toppo Revolutionary Socialist Party
KalchiniST Manohar Tirkey Revolutionary Socialist Party
AlipurduarsNoneNirmal Das Revolutionary Socialist Party
FalakataSC Jogesh Chandra Barman Communist Party of India
MadarihatSTSushil Kujur Revolutionary Socialist Party
DhupguriSCBanamali Roy Communist Party of India
NagrakataSTChaitan Munda Communist Party of India
MainaguriSCBachcha Mohan Ray Revolutionary Socialist Party
MalSTJagannath Oraon Communist Party of India
KrantiNoneSudhan Raha Communist Party of India
JalpaiguriNoneAnupam Sen Indian National Congress
RajganjSCJatindra Nath Roy Communist Party of India
KalimpongNoneGaulan Lepcha Gorkha National Liberation Front
DarjeelingNoneNar Bahadur Chettri Gorkha National Liberation Front
KurseongNone Shanta Chhetri Gorkha National Liberation Front
SiliguriNone Ashok Bhattacharya Communist Party of India
PhansidewaSTProkash Minj Communist Party of India
ChopraNoneMahamuddin Communist Party of India
IslampurNone Abdul Karim Chowdhury Indian National Congress
GoalpokharNoneHafiz Alam Sairani All India Forward Bloc
KarandighiNoneSuresh Chandra Singha All India Forward Bloc
RaiganjSCDilip Kumar Das Indian National Congress
KaliaganjSC Pramatha Nath Ray Indian National Congress
KushmandiSCRoy Narmada Chandra Revolutionary Socialist Party
ItaharNoneSri Kumar Mukherjee Communist Party of India
GangarampurNoneMinati Ghosh Communist Party of India
TapanSTKhara Soren Revolutionary Socialist Party
KumarganjNoneRoy Dwijendra Nath Communist Party of India
BalurghatNoneChoudhury Biswanath Revolutionary Socialist Party
HabibpurSTJadu Hembram Communist Party of India
GajolSTDebnath Murmu Communist Party of India
KharbaNoneMahbubul Hoque Indian National Congress
HarishchandrapurNoneBirendra Kumar Maitra All India Forward Bloc
RatuaNoneSamar Mukherjee Indian National Congress
AraidangaNone Sabitri Mitra Indian National Congress
MaldaSCPhani Bhusan Roy Indian National Congress
EnglishbazarNoneGoutam Chakravartty Indian National Congress
ManikchakNoneRam Prabesh Mondal Indian National Congress
SuzapurNone Rubi Noor Indian National Congress
KaliachakNone Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury Indian National Congress
FarakkaNoneMainul Haque Indian National Congress
AurangabadNone Humayun Reza Indian National Congress
SutiNone Mohammad Sohrab Indian National Congress
SagardighiSCDas Paresh Nath Communist Party of India
JangipurNone Habibur Rahaman Indian National Congress
LalgolaNone Abu Hena Indian National Congress
BhagabangolaNoneAbu Sufian Sarkar Indian National Congress
NabagramNone Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Indian National Congress
MurshidabadNoneMozammel Haque Independent
JalangiNoneUnus Sarkar Communist Party of India
DomkalNone Anisur Rahman Communist Party of India
NaodaNoneJayanta Kumar Biswas Revolutionary Socialist Party
HariharparaNoneMozammel Haque Communist Party of India
BerhamporeNone Maya Rani Paul Indian National Congress
BeldangaNoneTimir Baran Bhaduri Revolutionary Socialist Party
KandiNone Atish Chandra Sinha Indian National Congress
KhargramSCBiswanath Mandal Communist Party of India
BarwanNoneDebabrata Banerjee Revolutionary Socialist Party
BharatpurNoneId Mahammad Revolutionary Socialist Party
KarimpurNoneChittaranjan Biswas Communist Party of India
PalashiparaNoneKamalendu Sanyal (sasthi) Communist Party of India
NakashiparaNoneShaikh Khabir Uddin Ahmed Communist Party of India
KaliganjNoneAbdus Salam Munshi Indian National Congress
ChapraNoneMir Quasem Mondal Communist Party of India
KrishnaganjSCSushil Biswas Communist Party of India
Krishnagar EastNoneSibdas Mukherjee Indian National Congress
Krishnagar WestNoneSunil Kumar Ghosh Communist Party of India
NabadwipNoneBiswanath Mitra Communist Party of India
SantipurNoneAjoy De Indian National Congress
HanskhaliSCBiswas Shashanka Shekhor Indian National Congress
Ranaghat EastSCBinay Krishna Biswas Communist Party of India
Ranaghat WestNone Sankar Singha Indian National Congress
ChakdahaNoneSatyasadhan Chakraborty Communist Party of India
HaringhataNoneMili Hira Communist Party of India
BagdahaSCKamalakshi Biswas All India Forward Bloc
BongaonNonePankaj Ghosh Communist Party of India
GaighataNoneManmatha Roy Communist Party of India
HabraNoneBaren Basu Communist Party of India
AshokenagarNoneNirode Roy Choudhury Communist Party of India
AmdangaNone Hashim Abdul Halim Communist Party of India
BarasatNoneAshoke Mukherjee Indian National Congress
RajarhatSC Rabindra Nath Mandal Communist Party of India
DegangaNoneMd. Yakub All India Forward Bloc
SwarupnagarNoneMostafa Bin Quassem Communist Party of India
BaduriaNone Quazi Abdul Guffar Indian National Congress
BasirhatNoneNarayan Mukherjee Communist Party of India
HasnabadNone Gautam Deb Communist Party of India
HaroaSCKshiti Ranjan Mondal Communist Party of India
SandeshkhaliSC Kanti Biswas Communist Party of India
HingalganjSCNripen Gayen Communist Party of India
GosabaSCGanesh Mondal Revolutionary Socialist Party
BasantiSC Subhas Naskar Revolutionary Socialist Party
KultaliSCPrabod Purkait Independent
JoynagarNoneDeba Prasad Sarkar Independent
BaruipurNone Sovandeb Chattopadhyay Indian National Congress
Canning WestSCBimal Mistry Communist Party of India
Canning EastNone Abdur Razzak Molla Communist Party of India
BhangarNone Badal Zamadar Communist Party of India
JadavpurNone Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Communist Party of India
SonarpurSCBhadreswar Mondal Communist Party of India
Bishnupur EastSCAnanda Kumar Biswas Communist Party of India
Bishnupur WestNoneSankar Saran Naskar Communist Party of India
Behala EastNoneKumkum Chakraborti Communist Party of India
Behala WestNoneNirmal Mukherjee Communist Party of India
Garden ReachNoneMohammed Amin Communist Party of India
MaheshtalaNoneMursalin Molla Communist Party of India
Budge BudgeNone Ashok Kumar Deb Indian National Congress
SatgachiaNone Jyoti Basu Communist Party of India
FaltaNoneSudhir Bhattacharjee Indian National Congress
Diamond HarbourNoneSheikh Daulat Ali Indian National Congress
Magrahat WestNoneAbul Basar Laskar Indian National Congress
Magrahat EastSCNirmal Sinha Communist Party of India
MandirbazarSCNikunja Paik Communist Party of India
MathurapurNone Satya Ranjan Bapuli Indian National Congress
KulpiSCSakuntala Paik Communist Party of India
PatharpratimaNoneGopal Krishna Dey Indian National Congress
KakdwipNoneAshok Giri Communist Party of India
SagarNonePrabhanjan Mondal Communist Party of India
BijpurNoneKamal Sengupta Basu Communist Party of India
NaihatiNoneRanjit Kundu Communist Party of India
BhatparaNoneBidyut Ganguli Communist Party of India
JagatdalNoneAnay Gopal Sinha Indian National Congress
NoaparaNoneMadan Mohan Nath Communist Party of India
TitagarhNonePrabin Kumar Shaw Communist Party of India
KhardahNone Dr. Asim Kumar Dasgupta Communist Party of India
PanihatiNone Nirmal Ghosh Indian National Congress
KamarhatiNone Shanti Ghatak Communist Party of India
BaranagarNoneAmar Choudhury Revolutionary Socialist Party
Dum DumNoneSankar Sen Communist Party of India
Belgachia EastNone Subhas Chakraborty Communist Party of India
CossipurNone Tarak Bandyopadhyay Indian National Congress
ShyampukurNoneSanti Ranjan Ganguly All India Forward Bloc
JorabaganNone Sanjoy Bakshi Indian National Congress
JorasankoNone Deokinandan Poddar Indian National Congress
Bara BazarNone Rajesh Khaitan Indian National Congress
Bow BazarNone Sudip Bandyopadhyay Indian National Congress
ChowringheeNone Subarata Mukherjee Indian National Congress
KabitirthaNone Ram Pyare Ram Indian National Congress
AliporeNone Saugata Roy Indian National Congress
Rashbehari AvenueNone Hoimi Basu Indian National Congress
TollygungeNone Pankaj Banerjee Indian National Congress
DhakuriaNone Kshiti Goswami Revolutionary Socialist Party
BallygungeNone Rabin Deb Communist Party of India
EntallyNoneSultan Ahmed Indian National Congress
TaltolaSCTapati Saha Communist Party of India
BeliaghataNone Manabendra Mukherjee Communist Party of India
SealdahNone Somendra Nath Mitra Indian National Congress
VidyasagarNone Tapas Roy Indian National Congress
BurtolaNone Sadhan Pande Indian National Congress
ManicktolaNone Paresh Paul Indian National Congress
Belgachia WestNone Rajdeo Goala Communist Party of India
BallyNoneKanika Ganguly Communist Party of India
Howrah NorthNoneLagan Deo Singh Communist Party of India
Howrah CentralNone Ambica Banerjee Indian National Congress
Howrah SouthNonePralay Talukdar Communist Party of India
ShibpurNone Jatu Lahiri Indian National Congress
DomjurNone Padmanidhi Dhar Communist Party of India
JagatballavpurNoneM. Ansaruddin Communist Party of India
PanchlaNoneGulsan Mullick Indian National Congress
SankrailSCSital Kumar Sardar Indian National Congress
Uluberia NorthSCRamjanam Majhi Indian National Congress
Uluberia SouthNoneGhose Rabindra All India Forward Bloc
ShyampurNoneSanjib Kumar Das Indian National Congress
BagnanNoneSabuj Dutta Indian National Congress
KalyanpurNone Asit Mitra Indian National Congress
AmtaNonePratyush Mukherjee Communist Party of India
UdaynarayanpurNoneNanigopal Chowdhury Communist Party of India
JangiparaNoneIbha Dey Communist Party of India
ChanditalaNone Akbor Ali Khandoker Indian National Congress
UttarparaNoneJyoti Krishna Chattapadhyay Communist Party of India
SeramporeNoneJyoti Chowdhury Indian National Congress
ChampdaniNoneAbdul Mannan Indian National Congress
ChandernagoreNoneKamal Mukherjee Indian National Congress
SingurNoneDas Bidyut Kumar Communist Party of India
HaripalNoneKali Prasad Biswas Communist Party of India
TarakeswarNonePratim Chatterjee Communist Party of India
ChinsurahNoneNaren Dey All India Forward Bloc
BansberiaNoneRobin Mukherjee Indian National Congress
BalagarhSCDibakanta Routh Communist Party of India
PanduaNoneAli Sk. Majed Communist Party of India
PolbaNoneSaktipada Khanra Communist Party of India
DhaniakhaliSCKripasindhu Saha All India Forward Bloc
PursurahNoneNimai Mal Communist Party of India
KhanakulSCBanshi Badan Maitra Communist Party of India
ArambaghNoneBinoy Datta Communist Party of India
GoghatSCShiba Prasad Malick All India Forward Bloc
ChandrakonaNoneGurupada Dutta Communist Party of India
GhatalSCRatan Pakhira Communist Party of India
DaspurNoneMukhopadhaya Chitta Ranjan Communist Party of India
NandanpurNoneChhaya Bera Communist Party of India
Panskura WestNoneChitta Ranjan Das Thakur Communist Party of India
Panskura EastNoneBiplab Ray Chowdhury Indian National Congress
TamlukNoneAnil Mudi Indian National Congress
MoynaNoneDipak Bera Communist Party of India
MahishadalNoneSukumar Das Indian National Congress
SutahataSCTushar Kanti Mandal Indian National Congress
NandigramNoneDebisankar Panda Indian National Congress
NarghatNoneBrahmamoy Nanda Communist Party of India
BhagabanpurNoneKhanra Ajit Indian National Congress
KhajuriSCMondal Ramchandra Communist Party of India
Contai NorthNoneChakradhar Maikap Communist Party of India
Contai SouthNone Sailaja Kumar Das Indian National Congress
RamnagarNoneMrinal Kanti Roy Communist Party of India
EgraNone Prabodh Chandra Sinha Communist Party of India
MugberiaNone Kiranmoy Nanda Communist Party of India
PataspurNoneKamakhya Nandan Das Mahapatra Communist Party of India
SabangNoneBangal Makhanlal Independent
PinglaNoneRam Pada Samanta Communist Party of India
DebraNoneSk. Jahangir Karim Communist Party of India
KeshpurSC Nandarani Dal Communist Party of India
Garhbeta EastNone Susanta Ghosh Communist Party of India
Garhbeta WestSCKrishnaprasad Duley Communist Party of India
SalbaniNoneKhagendra Nath Mahato Communist Party of India
MidnaporeNonePurnendu Sengupta Communist Party of India
Kharagpur TownNone Gyan Singh Sohanpal Indian National Congress
Kharagpur RuralNoneHaque Nazmul Communist Party of India
KeshiariSTMaheswar Murmu Communist Party of India
NarayangarhNone Surjya Kanta Mishra Communist Party of India
DantanNoneNanda Gopal Bhattacharjee Communist Party of India
NayagramSTSubhas Chandra Saren Communist Party of India
GopiballavpurNoneRana Sakti Communist Party of India
JhargramNoneBuddhadev Bhakat Communist Party of India
BinpurSTNaren HansdaJharkhand Party
BanduanSTLakhiram Kisku Communist Party of India
ManbazarNoneKamala Kanta Mahata Communist Party of India
BalrampurSTBhandu Majhi Communist Party of India
ArsaNoneNishi Kanta Mehta All India Forward Bloc
JhaldaNoneSatya Ranjan Mahato All India Forward Bloc
JaipurNone Shantiram Mahato Indian National Congress
PuruliaNoneMamata Mukherjee Communist Party of India
ParaSCBilasi Bala Sahis Communist Party of India
RaghunathpurSCNatabar Bagdi Communist Party of India
KashipurSTRabindranath Hembram Communist Party of India
HuraNoneAbinas Mahato Communist Party of India
TaldangraNone Manoranjan Patra Communist Party of India
RaipurSTUpen Kisku Communist Party of India
RanibandhST Deblina Hembram Communist Party of India
IndpurSCKirity Bagdi Communist Party of India
ChhatnaNoneSubhas Goswami Revolutionary Socialist Party
GangajalghatiSCAngad Bauri Communist Party of India
BarjoraNoneSusmita Biswas Communist Party of India
BankuraNone Partha De Communist Party of India
OndaNoneAnil Mukherjee All India Forward Bloc
VishnupurNoneJayanta Chowdhury Communist Party of India
KotulpurNoneGouripada Dutta Communist Party of India
IndasSCNandadulal Majhi Communist Party of India
SonamukhiSCHaradhan Bauri Communist Party of India
KultiNoneAcharyya Maniklal All India Forward Bloc
BarabaniNoneManik Upadhyay Indian National Congress
HirapurNoneShyamadas Banerjee Indian National Congress
AsansolNone Tapas Banerjee Indian National Congress
RaniganjNone Bansha Gopal Chowdhury Communist Party of India
JamuriaNonePelab Kabi Communist Party of India
UkhraSCBagdi Lakhan Communist Party of India
Durgapur-iNoneMrinal Banerjee Communist Party of India
Durgapur-iiNoneDebabrata Benerjee Communist Party of India
KanksaSCAnkura Saresh Communist Party of India
AusgramSCKartick Chandra Bag Communist Party of India
BhatarNoneSubhas Mondal Communist Party of India
GalsiNoneIdrish Mondal All India Forward Bloc
Burdwan NorthNoneNisith Adhikary Communist Party of India
Burdwan SouthNoneShyamaprosad Bose Communist Party of India
KhandaghoshSCDalui Shibaprasad Communist Party of India
RainaNoneShyamaprosad Pal Communist Party of India
JamalpurSCSamar Hazra Communist Party of India
MemariNoneTapas Chattopadhyay Communist Party of India
KalnaNoneAnju Kar Communist Party of India
NadanghatNoneBiren Ghosh Communist Party of India
ManteswarNone Abu Ayesh Mondal Communist Party of India
PurbasthaliNoneDutta Himangshu Communist Party of India
KatwaNone Rabindra Nath Chatterjee Indian National Congress
MangalkotNoneSadhana Mallik Communist Party of India
KetugramSCMajhi Tamal Communist Party of India
NanurSCAnandagopal Das Communist Party of India
BolpurNoneTapan Hore Revolutionary Socialist Party
LabhpurNoneManik Chandra Mondal Communist Party of India
DubrajpurNoneBhakti Bhusan Mondal All India Forward Bloc
RajnagarSCBijoy Bagdi All India Forward Bloc
SuriNone Suniti Chattaraj Indian National Congress
Mahammad BazarNoneDhiren Sen Communist Party of India
MayureswarSCDhiren Let Communist Party of India
RampurhatNoneMahammad Hannan All India Forward Bloc
HansanSC Asit Kumar Mal Indian National Congress
NalhatiNone Kalimuddin Shams All India Forward Bloc
MuraraiNoneMotahar Hossain Indian National Congress

Aftermath

The Congress lost power in the general elections to the BJP, however BJP was unable to obtain majority in the Parliament on its own. Jyoti Basu, who had been re-elected as CM for a record 5th time, was offered the post of Prime Minister by both the Congress & the Janata Dal following the resignation of BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee within 13 days of assuming power due to lack of numbers in the Lok Sabha, lack of a consensual prime-ministerial candidate in the Congress & V. P. Singh refusing to become prime minister again. However CPI(M)'s highest decision-making body refused this offer, believing that if it accepted Basu's prime-ministership, then due to lack of numbers in the Lok Sabha, it would have to bend to the will of the Congress, which it saw as a bourgeois organisation. Jyoti Basu later remarked that this decision of the CPI(M) was a "historic blunder". Thus being denied prime-ministership, Basu put forward the name of Janata Dal leader & Karnataka CM H. D. Deve Gowda as the prime-ministerial candidate, which was accepted by the Congress, Janata-Dal, Left Front & other parties allied with them. Deve Gowda resigned after a year due to withdrawal of Congress' support & was succeeded by his Minister of External Affairs, Janata Dal leader Inder Kumar Gujral. Gujral resigned a year later, due to split in the Janata Dal caused by Lalu Prasad Yadav's expulsion due to his involvement in the fodder scam & the Congress withdrawing its support due to Gujral's refusal to expel DMK from the government, whose leader M. Karunanidhi had been implicated in assisting Rajiv Gandhi's murder in Jain Commission's report.

In January 1998, following disagreements with both AICC President Sitaram Kesri & state PCC president Somen Mitra over the Congress party's approach towards the Left Front, Mamata Banerjee left the Congress & formed her own party, consisting mostly of the supporters of Siddhartha Shankar Ray. Her party, in alliance with BJP, won 7 seats from the state in the general elections held on February that year, while the Congress retained only one seat & lost 7 others from the state. Somen Mitra resigned as the state PCC chief after this debacle & was succeeded by A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury, the lone Congress MP from the state.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mamata Banerjee</span> Chief Minister of West Bengal, India since 2011

Mamata Banerjee is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal since 20 May 2011, the first woman to hold the office. Having served multiple times as a Union Cabinet Minister, Mamata Banerjee became the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the first time in 2011. She founded the All India Trinamool Congress in 1998 after separating from the Indian National Congress, and became its second chairperson later in 2001. She is often referred to as Didi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 Indian general election</span>

General elections were held in India on 22 and 26 November 1989 to elect the members of the ninth Lok Sabha. The incumbent Indian National Congress (Indira) government under the premiership of Rajiv Gandhi lost its mandate, even though it was still the largest single party in the Lok Sabha. V. P. Singh, the leader of the second largest party Janata Dal was invited by the President of India to form the government. The government was formed with outside support from the Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist parties led by CPI(M). V. P. Singh was sworn in as the seventh Prime Minister of India on 2 December 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 Indian general election</span>

General elections were held in India on 27 April, 2 May and 7 May 1996 to elect the members of the eleventh Lok Sabha. The elections resulted in a hung parliament with no single party having a clear majority. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which had won the most seats, formed a short-lived government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, two weeks later the United Front coalition was able to secure a parliamentary majority and H. D. Deve Gowda of Janata Dal became Prime Minister. In 1997 Inder Kumar Gujral, also from the United Front, succeeded Gowda as Prime Minister. Due to the instability, early elections were held in 1998. The elections were the first since 1980 in which every states' seats were elected in a single election period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prasanta Sur</span> Indian politician

Prasanta Sur was the convenor of the Kolkata district Left Front committee and became the first Left Front Mayor of Kolkata during 1969. A member of the state committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sur was the urban development minister in the first Left Front government in 1977. Later, he also held key portfolios like health, refugee rehabilitation etc. He died on 29 February 2008, aged 85, after suffering from age-related problems.

In Indian politics, the Third Front refers to temporary alliances which began in 1989 among smaller parties to offer a third option to Indian voters. These alliances arose to challenge the Indian National Congress (INC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madan Mitra</span> Indian politician

Madan Mitra is an Indian politician, actor from West Bengal. Madan Mitra started his career with party Indian National Congress. He held many positions of Indian Youth Congress, the party's youth wing. In 1998, he joined All India Trinamool Congress party, founded by his colleague Mamata Banerjee, and his movie debut was in the 2023 Bengali film Oh! Lovely. In 2011, he was elected to the legislative assembly and became a state minister. He was arrested for the Sarada chit fund conspiracy case and got bail after 22 months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election</span> State legislative assembly election

Legislative Assembly election was held in 2016 for the 294 seats of the Vidhan Sabha in the state of West Bengal in India. The All India Trinamool Congress under Mamata Banerjee won 211 seats, and thus was reelected with an enhanced majority. Like in the 2011 election, the poll was held in six phases, with the first phase divided into two days. The first phase was held in Naxalite-Maoist affected Red corridor areas with two polling dates: 4 April and 11 April. The other phases were held on 17, 21, 25, 30 April and 5 May. The result of the election was declared on 19 May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Left Front (West Bengal)</span> Indian political party

The Left Front is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was formed in January 1977, the founding parties being the Communist Party of India (Marxist), All India Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Marxist Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India and the Biplabi Bangla Congress. Other parties joined in later years, most notably the Communist Party of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election</span> Assembly Election of West Bengal, India

Legislative Assembly elections was held in the Indian state of West Bengal on 14 June 1977. The polls took place after the ousting of Indira Gandhi's government at the Centre. The Left Front won a landslide victory. The 1977 election marked the beginning of the 34-year Left Front rule in West Bengal, with Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Jyoti Basu leading the first Left Front cabinet. The election finally put to rest, the decade-long political instability that had begun since 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election</span>

Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1987. The election was mainly a clash between the Left Front led by Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and the Indian National Congress(I) led by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The former held the state government and the latter the national government. The election was won by the Left Front, for the third time in a row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1991 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election</span>

Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1991. The election took place simultaneously with the 1991 Indian general election. The term of the assembly elected in 1987 lasted until February 1992, but the West Bengal government asked the Election Commission of India to arrange the election at an earlier date.

Sonali Guha is an Indian politician from the state of West Bengal. Guha is a Bharatiya Janata Party politician. She was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Satgachhia for four terms to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and was the first female deputy speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly as a member of the Trinamool Congress. Later she joined Bharatiya Janata Party after she was denied a ticket to contest the 2021 assembly elections. Now she is again interested to join TMC after the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Elections 2021 results.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minakshi Mukherjee</span> Indian politician

Minakshi Mukherjee is an Indian politician from West Bengal. She is the state secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). She previously was the state president of DYFI, the youth wing of CPIM. She was fielded as the Left Front candidate from Sanjukta Morcha against Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee and BJP Leader Suvendu Adhikari in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Election from Nandigram, but lost to Suvendu Adhikari.

The 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election for 292 constituencies of the 294 constituencies in West Bengal was held between 27 March to 29 April 2021 in eight phases.

References

  1. M. L. Ahuja (2000). Handbook of General Elections and Electoral Reforms in India, 1952–1999. Mittal Publications. p. 49. ISBN   978-81-7099-766-5.
  2. The Hindu. The case against simultaneous polls
  3. 1 2 3 India Today. Shrinking mandate
  4. "No 'Ekla Cholo' For Pranab Mukherjee, He Believed In 'Sabka Saath". m.timesofindia.com.
  5. 1 2 India Today. West Bengal: Advantage Left Front
  6. rediff.com. The X Factor
  7. 1 2 Indian Express. TMC’s Madan Mitra electoral battle from jail looks a winner
  8. Communist Party of India (Marxist). Review of the May 2001 Assembly Elections (may 2001)
  9. 1 2 3 N. Jose Chander (1 January 2004). Coalition Politics: The Indian Experience. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 105–111. ISBN   978-81-8069-092-1.
  10. 1 2 3 Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1996 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL
  11. Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1991 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL