| Election Name: | 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election |
| Type: | Legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Country: | India |
| Previous Election: | 1972 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election |
| Previous Year: | 1972 |
| Next Election: | 1982 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election |
| Next Year: | 1982 |
| Election Date: | 14 June 1977 |
| Seats For Election: | All 294 seats in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly |
| Majority Seats: | 148 |
| Outgoing Members: | 1972 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election#Results by constituency |
| Elected Members: | 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election#Elected members |
| Leader1: | Jyoti Basu |
| Party1: | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Leaders Seat1: | Satgachhia |
| Percentage1: | 35.46% |
| Seats1: | 178 |
| Last Election1: | 27.45%, 14 seats |
| Seat Change1: | 164 |
| Swing1: | 8.01 pp |
| Alliance1: | Left Front (West Bengal) |
| Party2: | Janata Party |
| Leader2: | Prafulla Chandra Sen |
| Leaders Seat2: | Did not contest |
| Percentage2: | 20.02% |
| Seats2: | 29 |
| Last Election2: | New |
| Seat Change2: | New |
| Swing2: | New |
| Party3: | INC(R) |
| Leader3: | Purabi Mukhopadhyay |
| Leaders Seat3: | Did not contest |
| Percentage3: | 23.02% |
| Seats3: | 20 |
| Last Election3: | 49.08%, 216 seats |
| Seat Change3: | 196 |
| Swing3: | 26.06 pp |
| Leader Since1: | 1964 |
| Leader Since2: | 1977 |
| Leader Since3: | 1977 |
| Popular Vote1: | 6,568,999 |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,869,391 |
| Popular Vote3: | 3,298,063 |
| Chief Minister | |
| Before Election: | Siddhartha Shankar Ray |
| Before Party: | Indian National Congress |
| After Election: | Jyoti Basu |
| After Party: | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Posttitle: | Chief Minister after election |
Legislative Assembly elections was held in the Indian state of West Bengal on 14 June 1977.[1] 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.
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.[2]
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.[2] With the assembly elections approaching, the two sides sought to build a seat-sharing agreement.[2] But the negotiation turned fruitless, and the Left Front and Janata Party parted ways.[2] 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.[3]
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.[2] 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.[4] 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.[5] [6] [7] 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.[2] [8] On 21 June 1977 the Left Front formed a government with Jyoti Basu as its Chief Minister.[8] [9] The first cabinet meeting of the Left Front government ordered the release of political prisoners.[10]
Provisional Central Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) leader Santosh Rana was elected as an independent from Gopiballavpur.[11]
| Party | Candidates | Seats | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left Front | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 224 | 178 | 5,080,828 | 35.46 |
| All India Forward Bloc | 36 | 25 | 750,229 | 5.24 | |
| Revolutionary Socialist Party | 23 | 20 | 536,625 | 3.74 | |
| Revolutionary Communist Party of India< | -- Includes Sudhin Kumar in Howrah Central, who contested as an independent --> | 4 | 3 | 75,156 | 0.52 |
| Marxist Forward Bloc< | -- Includes Ram Chaterjee in Tarakeswar, who contested as an independent --> | 3 | 3 | 58,466 | 0.41 |
| Biplobi Bangla Congress< | -- Includes the candidates in Sabang and Indpur, not the third candidate belonging to the BBCP --> | 2 | 1 | 35,457 | 0.25 |
| LF independent | 1 | 1 | 32,238 | 0.22 | |
| Janata Party | 289 | 29 | 2,869,391 | 20.02 | |
| Indian National Congress (R) | 290 | 20 | 3,298,063 | 23.02 | |
| Communist Party of India | 63 | 2 | 375,560 | 2.62 | |
| Socialist Unity Centre of India | 29 | 4 | 211,752 | 1.48 | |
| Indian Union Muslim League | 32 | 1 | 54,942 | 0.38 | |
| Workers Party of India | 2 | 1 | 29,221 | 0.20 | |
| Jharkhand Party | 2 | 0 | 5,701 | 0.04 | |
| Republican Party of India | 3 | 0 | 1,652 | 0.01 | |
| All India Gorkha League | 2 | 0 | 810 | 0.01 | |
| Bharater Biplobi Communist Party< | -- Which RCPI splinter group is this??? The one led by Anadi Das or the one led by B.B. Nandy??? --> | 1 | 0 | 489 | 0.00 |
| Independents< | -- excluding the 3 independents of LF --> | 566 | 7 | 912,612 | 6.37 |
| Total | 1,572 | 294 | 14,329,201 | 100 | |
| align=left colspan=6 | Source: ECI | ||||
| Constituency | Reserved for (SC/ST/None) | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mekliganj | SC | Sada Kant Roy | ||
| Sitalkuchi | SC | Sudhir Pramanik | ||
| Mathabhanga | SC | Dinesh Chandra Dakua | ||
| Cooch Behar North | None | Aparajita Goppi | ||
| Cooch Behar West | None | Bimal Kanti Basu | ||
| Sitai | None | Dipak Sen Gupta | ||
| Dinhata | None | Kamal Kanti Guha | ||
| Natabari | None | Sibendra Narayan Chowdhury | ||
| Tufanganj | SC | Manindra Nath Barma | ||
| Kumargram | ST | John Arther Baxla | ||
| Kalchini | ST | Manohar Tirkey | ||
| Alipurduars | None | Nani Bhattacharya | ||
| Falakata | SC | Jogendra Nath Singh Roy | ||
| Madarihat | ST | A. H. Besterwitch | ||
| Dhupguri | SC | Banamali Roy | ||
| Nagrakata | ST | Punai Oraon | ||
| Mainaguri | SC | Tarak Bandhu Roy | ||
| Mal | ST | Mohan Lal Oraon | ||
| Kranti | None | Parimal Mitra | ||
| Jalpaiguri | None | Nirmal Kumar Bose | ||
| Rajganj | SC | Dhirendra Nath Roy | ||
| Kalimpong | None | Subha Renuleena | ||
| Darjeeling | None | Deo Prakash Rai | ||
| Kurseong | None | Dawa Norbula | ||
| Siliguri | None | Biren Bose | ||
| Phansidewa | ST | Patras Minz | ||
| Chopra | None | Moha Bachcha Munsi | ||
| Islampur | None | Chowdhary Abdul Karim | ||
| Goalpokhar | None | Ramjan Ali | ||
| Karandighi | None | Haji Sajjad Hussain | ||
| Raiganj | SC | Khagendra Nath Sinha | ||
| Kaliaganj | SC | Naba Kumar Roy | ||
| Kushmandi | SC | Dhirendra Nath Sarkar | ||
| Itahar | None | Zaimal Abedin | ||
| Gangarampur | None | Ahindra Sarkar | ||
| Tapan | ST | Natheniel Murmu | ||
| Kumarganj | None | Jamini Kisore Mojumdar | ||
| Balurghat | None | Biswanath Choudhauri | ||
| Habibpur | ST | Murmu Sarkar | ||
| Gajol | ST | Sufal Murmu | ||
| Kharba | None | Golam Yazdani | ||
| Harishchandrapur | None | Birendra Kumar Maitra | ||
| Ratua | None | Mohammad Ali | ||
| Araidanga | None | Habib Mustafa | ||
| Malda | SC | Subhendu Choudhury | ||
| Englishbazar | None | Sailen Sarkar | ||
| Manikchak | None | Subodh Choudhury | ||
| Suzapur | None | Abul Barkat Ataul Ghani Khan Chowdhury | ||
| Kaliachak | None | Samsuddin Ahmmad | ||
| Farakka | None | Abul Hasnat Khan | ||
| Aurangabad | None | Lutfal Haque | ||
| Suti | None | Md. Sohorab | ||
| Sagardighi | SC | Hazari Biswas | ||
| Jangipur | None | Habibur Rahaman | ||
| Lalgola | None | Abdus Sattar | ||
| Bhagabangola | None | Kazi Hafizur Rahaman | ||
| Nabagram | None | Birendra Narayan Ray | ||
| Murshidabad | None | Chhaya Ghosh | ||
| Jalangi | None | Atahar Rahaman | ||
| Domkal | None | Md. Abdul Bari | ||
| Naoda | None | Jayanta Kumar Biswas | ||
| Hariharpara | None | Shaikh Imajuddin | ||
| Berhampore | None | Debabrata Bandopadhyay | ||
| Beldanga | None | Timir Baran Bhadury | ||
| Kandi | None | Atish Chandra Sinha | ||
| Khargram | SC | Dinabandhu Majhi | ||
| Barwan | None | Amalendra Roy | ||
| Bharatpur | None | Satyapada Bhattacharyya | ||
| Karimpur | None | Samarendra Nath Sanyal | ||
| Palashipara | None | Madhabendu Mohanta | ||
| Nakashipara | None | Mir Fakir Mohammad | ||
| Kaliganj | None | Debsaran Ghosh | ||
| Chapra | None | Sahabuddin Mondal | ||
| Krishnaganj | SC | Jnanendranath Biswas | ||
| Krishnagar East | None | Kashikanta Maitra | ||
| Krishnagar West | None | Amritendu Mukherjee | ||
| Nabadwip | None | Debi Prosad Basu | ||
| Santipur | None | Bimalananda Mukherjee | ||
| Hanskhali | SC | Sukumar Mondal | ||
| Ranaghat East | SC | Satish Chandra Biswas | ||
| Ranaghat West | None | Kundu Gourchandra | ||
| Chakdaha | None | Binoy Kumar Biswas | ||
| Haringhata | None | Malakar Nanigopal | ||
| Bagdaha | SC | Kamalakshmi Biswas | ||
| Bongaon | None | Ranjit Mitra | ||
| Gaighata | None | Kanti Chandra Biswas | ||
| Habra | None | Nirode Roy Chowdhury | ||
| Ashokenagar | None | Nani Kar | ||
| Amdanga | None | Hashim Abdul Halim | ||
| Barasat | None | Saral Deb | ||
| Rajarhat | SC | Rabindra Nath Mandal | ||
| Deganga | None | A. K. M. Hassan Uzzaman | ||
| Swarupnagar | None | Anisur Rahman | ||
| Baduria | None | Mostafa Bin Quasem | ||
| Basirhat | None | Narayan Mukherjee | ||
| Hasnabad | None | Amiya Banerjee | ||
| Haroa | SC | Kshiti Ranjan Mondal | ||
| Sandeshkhali | SC | Kumud Ranjan Biswas | ||
| Hingalganj | SC | Sudhangshu Mondal | ||
| Gosaba | SC | Ganesh Chandra Mondal | ||
| Basanti | SC | Kalipada Barman | ||
| Kultali | SC | Probodh Purkait | ||
| Joynagar | None | Deba Prosad Sarkar | ||
| Baruipur | None | Hemen Majumdar | ||
| Canning West | SC | Chitta Ranjan Mridha | ||
| Canning East | None | Abdur Razzak Molla | ||
| Bhangar | None | Daud Khan | ||
| Jadavpur | None | Dinesh Majumdar | ||
| Sonarpur | SC | Gangadhar Naskar | ||
| Bishnupur East | SC | Sundar Naskar | ||
| Bishnupur West | None | Provesh Chandra Ray | ||
| Behala East | None | Niranjan Mukherjee | ||
| Behala West | None | Rabin Mukherjee | ||
| Garden Reach | None | Chhedilal Singh | ||
| Maheshtala | None | Sudhir Bhandari | ||
| Budge Budge | None | Khitibhusan Burmon | ||
| Satgachia | None | Jyoti Basu | ||
| Falta | None | Nemai Chandra Das | ||
| Diamond Harbour | None | Abdul Quiyom Molla | ||
| Magrahat West | None | Chhobhan Gazi | ||
| Magrahat East | SC | Radjika Ranjan Pramanik | ||
| Mandirbazar | SC | Renupada Halder | ||
| Mathurapur | None | Satya Ranjan Bapuli | ||
| Kulpi | SC | Krishnadhan Halder | ||
| Patharpratima | None | Gunadhar Maiti | ||
| Kakdwip | None | Hrishikesh Maity | ||
| Sagar | None | Provanjan Mondal | ||
| Bijpur | None | Jagadish Chandra Das | ||
| Naihati | None | Gopal Basu | ||
| Bhatpara | None | Sita Ram Gupta | ||
| Jagatdal | None | Nihar Kumar Basu | ||
| Noapara | None | Jamini Bhusan Saha | ||
| Titagarh | None | Mohammed Amin | ||
| Khardah | None | Kamal Sarkar | ||
| Panihati | None | Gopal Krishna Bhattacharyya | ||
| Kamarhati | None | Radhika Ranjan Banerjee | ||
| Baranagar | None | Matish Ray | ||
| Dum Dum | None | Tarun Sen Gupta | ||
| Belgachia East | None | Subhas Chakraborty | ||
| Cossipur | None | Buddhadev Bhattacharjee | ||
| Shyampukur | None | Nalini Kanta Guha | ||
| Jorabagan | None | Haripada Bharati | ||
| Jorasanko | None | Vishnu Kant Shastri | ||
| Bara Bazar | None | Rabi Shankar Pandey | ||
| Bow Bazar | None | Abul Hasan | ||
| Chowringhee | None | Sandip Das | ||
| Kabitirtha | None | Kalimuddin Shams | ||
| Alipore | None | Ashoke Kumar Bose | ||
| Rashbehari Avenue | None | Ashok Mitra | ||
| Tollygunge | None | Prasanta Kumar Sur | ||
| Dhakuria | None | Jatin Chakravarty | ||
| Ballygunge | None | Sachin Sen | ||
| Entally | None | Md. Nezamuddin | ||
| Taltola | SC | Sumanta Kr. Hira | ||
| Beliaghata | None | Krishna Pada Ghosh | ||
| Sealdah | None | Binoy Banerjee | ||
| Vidyasagar | None | Samar Kumar Rudra | ||
| Burtola | None | Nikhil Das | ||
| Manicktola | None | Suhrid Mullick Chowdhury | ||
| Belgachia West | None | Lakshmi Charan Sen | ||
| Bally | None | Patipaban Pathak | ||
| Howrah North | None | Chitabrata Mazumdar | ||
| Howrah Central | None | Sudhindra Nath Kumar | ||
| Howrah South | None | Praley Talukdar | ||
| Shibpur | None | Kanai Lal Bhattacharyya | ||
| Domjur | None | Joykesh Mukherjee | ||
| Jagatballavpur | None | M. Ansaruddin | ||
| Panchla | None | Santosh Kumar Das | ||
| Sankrail | SC | Haran Hazra | ||
| Uluberia North | SC | Raj Kumar Mndal | ||
| Uluberia South | None | Aurobinda Ghosal | ||
| Shyampur | None | Sasabindu Bera | ||
| Bagnan | None | Nirupama Chatterjee | ||
| Kalyanpur | None | Nitai Charan Adak | ||
| Amta | None | Barindra Nath Koley | ||
| Udaynarayanpur | None | Pannalal Majhi | ||
| Jangipara | None | Manindra Nath Jana | ||
| Chanditala | None | Malin Ghosh | ||
| Uttarpara | None | Santashree Chattopadhyay | ||
| Serampore | None | Kamal Krishna Bahattacharayya | ||
| Champdani | None | Saidndra Nath Chattopadhyay | ||
| Chandernagore | None | Bhabani Mukherjee | ||
| Singur | None | Gopal Bandnopadhyay | ||
| Haripal | None | Balai Bandhopadhyay | ||
| Tarakeswar | None | Ram Chatterjee | ||
| Chinsurah | None | Sambhu Charan Ghosh | ||
| Bansberia | None | Prabir Kumar Sen Gupta | ||
| Balagarh | SC | Abimnash Pramanik | ||
| Pandua | None | Deb Narayan Chakrabarty | ||
| Polba | None | Brojogopal Neogy | ||
| Dhaniakhali | SC | Kripa Sindhu Saha | ||
| Pursurah | None | Manoranjan Hazra | ||
| Khanakul | SC | Panchanan Digpati | ||
| Arambagh | None | Ajoy Kr. Dey | ||
| Goghat | SC | Nanuram Roy | ||
| Chandrakona | None | Umapati Chakrabarty | ||
| Ghatal | SC | Gopal Mondal | ||
| Daspur | None | Prabhas Chandra Phadikar | ||
| Nandanpur | None | Manoranjan Roy | ||
| Panskura West | None | Sk. Omkar Ali | ||
| Panskura East | None | Swades Ranjan Maji | ||
| Tamluk | None | Biswanath Mukhopadhyay | ||
| Moyna | None | Pulak Bera | ||
| Mahishadal | None | Saswati Bag | ||
| Sutahata | SC | Shiba Nath Das | ||
| Nandigram | None | Prabir Jana | ||
| Narghat | None | Bankim Behari Maiti | ||
| Bhagabanpur | None | Haripada Jana | ||
| Khajuri | SC | Sunirmal Paik | ||
| Contai North | None | Rasbehari Pal | ||
| Contai South | None | Satya Brata Maiti | ||
| Ramnagar | None | Balailal Das Mahapatra | ||
| Egra | None | Prabodh Chandra Sinha | ||
| Mugberia | None | Kiranmay Nanda | ||
| Pataspur | None | Janmejoy Ojha | ||
| Sabang | None | Gouranga Samanta | ||
| Pingla | None | Haripada Jana | ||
| Debra | None | Syed Morazzam Hossain | ||
| Keshpur | SC | Rajani Kanta Doloi | ||
| Garhbeta East | None | Subhendu Mondal | ||
| Garhbeta West | SC | Santosh Bisui | ||
| Salbani | None | Sundar Hazra | ||
| Midnapore | None | Bankim Behari Pal | ||
| Kharagpur Town | None | Sudhir Dassharma | ||
| Kharagpur Rural | None | Sk. Siraj Ali | ||
| Keshiari | ST | Khudiram Singh | ||
| Narayangarh | None | Krishna Das Roy | ||
| Dantan | None | Pradyot Kumar Mahanti | ||
| Nayagram | ST | Budhadeb Singh | ||
| Gopiballavpur | None | Santosh Rana | ||
| Jhargram | None | Ram Chandra Satpathy | ||
| Binpur | ST | Sambhunath Mandi | ||
| Banduan | ST | Sudhangshu Sekhar Majhi | ||
| Manbazar | None | Nakul Chandra Mahata | ||
| Balrampur | ST | Bikram Tudu | ||
| Arsa | None | Daman Chandra Kuiry | ||
| Jhalda | None | Satya Ranjan Mahato | ||
| Jaipur | None | Ram Krishna Mahato | ||
| Purulia | None | Mahadeb Mukherjee | ||
| Para | SC | Gobinda Bauri | ||
| Raghunathpur | SC | Bijoy Bauri | ||
| Kashipur | ST | Surendra Nath Majhi | ||
| Hura | None | Ambarish Mukhopadhyay | ||
| Taldangra | None | Mohini Mohan Panda | ||
| Raipur | ST | Apindra Kisku | ||
| Ranibandh | ST | Suchand Soren | ||
| Indpur | SC | Binode Behari Maji | ||
| Chhatna | None | Subhas Goswami | ||
| Gangajalghati | SC | Nabani Barui | ||
| Barjora | None | Aswini Kumar Raj | ||
| Bankura | None | Partha De | ||
| Onda | None | Anil Mukherjee | ||
| Vishnupur | None | Achintya Krishna Roy | ||
| Kotulpur | None | Gunadhar Choudhary | ||
| Indas | SC | Badan Bora | ||
| Sonamukhi | SC | Sukhendu Khan | ||
| Kulti | None | Madhu Banerjee | ||
| Barabani | None | Sunil Basu Roy | ||
| Hirapur | None | Bamapada Mukherjee | ||
| Asansol | None | Haradhan Roy | ||
| Raniganj | None | Haradhan Roy | ||
| Jamuria | None | Bikash Chowdhury | ||
| Ukhra | SC | Lakhan Bagdi | ||
| Durgapur-i | None | Dilip Kumar Majundar | ||
| Durgapur-ii | None | Tarun Chatterjee | ||
| Kanksa | SC | Lakshinarayan Saha | ||
| Ausgram | SC | Shreedhar Malik | ||
| Bhatar | None | Bholanath Sen | ||
| Galsi | None | Debranjan Sen | ||
| Burdwan North | None | Dwarka Nath Tah | ||
| Burdwan South | None | Benoy Krishna Chowdhry | ||
| Khandaghosh | SC | Purna Chandra Malik | ||
| Raina | None | Ram Narayan Goswami | ||
| Jamalpur | SC | Sunil Santra | ||
| Memari | None | Benoy Konar | ||
| Kalna | None | Guruprasad Sinha Roy | ||
| Nadanghat | None | Syed Abdul Habibullah | ||
| Manteswar | None | Hemanta Kumar Roy | ||
| Purbasthali | None | Manoranjan Nath | ||
| Katwa | None | Haramohan Sinha | ||
| Mangalkot | None | Nikhilananda Sar | ||
| Ketugram | SC | Raicharan Majhi | ||
| Nanur | SC | Banamali Das | ||
| Bolpur | None | Jyotsna Kumar Gupta | ||
| Labhpur | None | Sunil Kumar Mazumdar | ||
| Dubrajpur | None | Bhakti Bhusan Mandal | ||
| Rajnagar | SC | Siddheswar Mandal | ||
| Suri | None | Suniti Chattaraj | ||
| Mahammad Bazar | None | Dhirendra Nath Sen | ||
| Mayureswar | SC | Panchanan Let (bara) | ||
| Rampurhat | None | Shanshaka Sekhar Mondal | ||
| Hansan | SC | Trilochan Mal | ||
| Nalhati | None | Bhabaui Prasad Chattopadyay | ||
| Murarai | None | Motahar Hossain | ||