Legislative Assembly elections were held in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

in 1971. The assembly election was held alongside the

1971 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 1 and 10 March 1971 to elect members of the 5th Lok Sabha. They were the fifth general elections since independence in 1947. The 27 Indian states and union territories were represented by 518 constit ...

Parties and coalitions

Ahead of the 1971 election the map of party coalitions was redrawn. The

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

had split into two after the resignation of its Chief Minister. The United Left Front, also known as the Six-Party Coalition, was led by the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

and included the

Revolutionary Communist Party of India The Revolutionary Communist Party of India ( RCPI) is a political party in India. The party was founded as the Communist League by Saumyendranath Tagore in 1934, breaking away from the Communist Party of India (CPI). RCPI led armed uprisings aft ...

( Sudhindranath Kumar group), the

Biplobi Bangla Congress Biplobi Bangla Congress (English: Revolutionary Bengal Congress; BBC) is a political party in West Bengal, India. The party emerged as a splinter group of Bangla Congress ahead of the 1971 elections of West Bengal. This political Party was fou ...

, the

Bolshevik Party of India The Bolshevik Party of India (abbreviated BPI) is an Indian political party in India. The party was founded in 1939. The party had a certain role in the trade union movement in West Bengal and was briefly represented in the state government in 19 ...

(Nepal Bhattacharya group), the

Workers Party of India Workers Party of India is a political party in the Indian state of West Bengal. WPI has its origin in the Democratic Vanguard in India. DV was formed in 1943 when a group led by Jiban Lal Chattopadhyay broke away from the Radical Democratic Par ...

and the

Marxist Forward Bloc The Marxist Forward Bloc is a political party in India, a splinter group of the All India Forward Bloc. The MFB was formed in 1953 as Satyapriya Banerjee, a member of the AIFB Central Secretariat, Amar Bose, Suhurit Chaudhury and Ram Chatterji wer ...

. The United Left Democratic Front, also known as the Eight-Party Coalition, was led by the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

and included the All India Forward Bloc, the

Socialist Unity Centre of India The Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) or SUCI(C), previously called the Socialist Unity Centre of India and "Socialist Unity Centre", is an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist communist party in India. The party was founded by Shib ...

, the

All India Gorkha League Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League ( ABGL) (also called All India Gorkha League (AIGL/IGL)) is a political party working amongst the Nepali-speaking Gorkha population in Darjeeling District and Kalimpong District of West Bengal, India. The party was ...

, the

( Barada Mukutmoni group), the RCPI (Anadi Das group), the

Samyukta Socialist Party Samyukta Socialist Party (; SSP), was a political party in India from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in 1964. In 1972, SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party. The General Secret ...

and the Praja Socialist Party (Rebel). The ULDF failed to reach a seat-sharing agreement with the

Bangla Congress The Bangla Congress was a regional political party in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was formed through a split in the Indian National Congress in 1966 and later co-governed with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) in two United F ...

, but managed to agree to some seat-sharings with the Congress(R). The Bangla Congress courted the Congress(R) for a seat-sharing alliance, but the Congress(R) rejected the offer. For Congress(R) the Bangla Congress was considered too close to Congress(O).

Violence

The electoral campaign was marred by violent incidents. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) called for electoral boycott. The CPI(M) on the other hand saw the CPI(ML) as a pawn of Congress(R) to sabotage its chances of winning power in the state. Across the state CPI(M) and CPI(ML) confronted each other; CPI(M) claimed that the CPI(ML) had killed some 200 of its cadres. Three candidates were killed during the electoral campaign; on February 17, 1971 Debdatta Mondal (Bangla Congress candidate in

Ukhra Ukhra is a census town in the Andal CD block in the Durgapur subdivision of the Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Ukhra is located at . Ukhra is a census town in Andal (community develop ...

) was killed, on February 20, 1971 the All India Forward Bloc leader and Shyampukur constituency candidate Hemanta Kumar Basu was killed in broad daylight and on March 5, 1971 Pijush Chandra Ghosh (Congress(O) candidate in

Dum Dum Dum Dum is a city and a municipality of Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of Kolkata urban area and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Etymology During the 19th ...

) was killed. Elections were countermanded in these three constituencies, but in Shyampukur no election was held as Ajit Kumar Biswas (the candidate nominated by the Forward Bloc in lieu of Hemanta Kumar Basu) was killed as well.

Result by constituency

Election Commission of India.
West Bengal 1971
'

Outcome

Following the election, the Congress(R), the Bangla Congress and the ULDF came to an agreement (albeit without the approval of SUCI), that Congress(R) and Bangla Congress would form a government and ULDF would support it from outside. Two ULDF affiliates, SSP and Gorkha League, joined the government.

References

{{West Bengal assembly elections

State Assembly elections in West Bengal 1970s in West Bengal