1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election

After the Janata Party won the national parliamentary election in March 1977 the new government in Delhi opted to dissolve the assemblies in nine states where the Indian National Congress (R) had lost the parliamentary polls and call for fresh elections. West Bengal was one of these states. The Congress(R) opposed the dissolution of the assemblies, the incumbent West Bengal Congress(R) government petitioned the Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court rejected the petition on 30 April 1977 and the West Bengal assembly was dissolved on order from the acting president B.D. Jatti.{{cite book|author=N. Jose Chander|title=Coalition Politics: The Indian Experience|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_QtMGIczhMC&pg=PA105|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-8069-092-1|page=105}}

Ahead of the March 1977 parliamentary election the Left Front (a new alliance led by the CPI(M) consisting of RSP, AIFB, MFB, RCPI & Biplobi Bangla Congress) and the Janata Party had contested with a seat-sharing agreement. With the assembly elections approaching, the two sides sought to build a seat-sharing agreement. But the negotiation turned fruitless, and the Left Front and Janata Party parted ways. The Left Front had offered the Janata Party 56% of the seats and the post as Chief Minister to Janata Party leader Prafulla Chandra Sen, but the Janata Party insisted on 70% of the seats.The Wire. [http://thewire.in/33521/why-has-nobody-called-it-yet-an-analysis-of-the-west-bengal-elections/ Why Has Nobody Called It Yet? An Analysis of the West Bengal Elections]

There were 25,984,474 eligible voters, voter turn-out stood at 56.15%.

In most areas the West Bengal assembly election saw a triangular contest between the Left Front, the Congress(R) and the Janata Party for the 294 seats across the constituency. The Left Front fielded 293 candidates; CPI(M) contested 224 seats, the All India Forward Bloc 36, the Revolutionary Socialist Party 23, the Marxist Forward Bloc 3, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India 4, the Biplobi Bangla Congress 2 and 1 Left Front supported independent.{{cite book|author=Communist Party of India (Marxist). West Bengal State Committee|title=Election results of West Bengal: statistics & analysis, 1952-1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CNeNAAAAMAAJ|publisher=The Committee|page=419}} Congress(R) contested 290 seats and Janata Party 289 seats. Left Front heavily campaigned on the massive-rigging perpetrated by the Congress(R) in the previous state election, state-sponsored anti-Communist violence & Emergency-era abuses perpetrated by the government of Siddharta Shankar Ray, with its slogan being কংগ্রেসের কালো হাত ভেঙ্গে দাও, গুড়িয়ে দাও (Break off & smash the black hand of the Congress in Bengali).

The Left Front won the election, winning 231 out of the 294 seats.New Left Review. [https://newleftreview.org/II/70/kheya-bag-red-bengal-s-rise-and-fall RED BENGAL’S RISE AND FALL]Election Commission of India. [http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1977/StatisticalReportWestBengal77.pdf STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1977 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL]{{cite book|author=Bharati Mukherjee|title=Political Culture and Leadership in India: A Study of West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JYg9LlHn21cC&pg=PA31|date=1 January 1991|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-320-9|pages=30–31}} The electoral result came as a surprise to the Left Front itself, as it had offered 52% of the seats in the pre-electoral seat sharing talks with the Janata Party.People's Democracy. [http://archives.peoplesdemocracy.in/2007/0624/06242007_biman%20basu.htm West Bengal: How The Left Front And Its Government Emerged] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815214713/http://archives.peoplesdemocracy.in/2007/0624/06242007_biman%20basu.htm |date=15 August 2017 }} On 21 June 1977 the Left Front formed a government with Jyoti Basu as its Chief Minister.People's Democracy. [http://archives.peoplesdemocracy.in/2007/0624/06242007_buddhadev.htm Thirty Years of Left Front Government in West Bengal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401020426/http://archives.peoplesdemocracy.in/2007/0624/06242007_buddhadev.htm |date=1 April 2015 }} The first cabinet meeting of the Left Front government ordered the release of political prisoners.Hindustan Times. [http://www.hindustantimes.com/kolkata/timeline-of-left-front-government-in-west-bengal/story-muPwAyT5OH4wDKgimtqEJJ.html Timeline of Left Front government in West Bengal]

Provisional Central Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) leader Santosh Rana was elected as an independent from Gopiballavpur.Times of India. [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/CPIML-MLA-Santosh-Rana-quits-party/articleshow/50986771.cms CPI(ML) MLA Santosh Rana quits party]

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Category:State Assembly elections in West Bengal

Category:1970s in West Bengal