| Election Name: | 1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election |
| Country: | India |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1982 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election |
| Previous Year: | 1982 |
| Next Election: | 1991 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election |
| Next Year: | 1991 |
| Election Date: | 10 April 1987 |
| Seats For Election: | All 294 seats in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly |
| Outgoing Members: | 1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election#Elected members |
| Elected Members: | 1982 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election#Elected members |
| Leader1: | Jyoti Basu |
| Party1: | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Alliance1: | LF |
| Leaders Seat1: | Satgachhia |
| Seats1: | 187 |
| Seat Change1: | 13 |
| Popular Vote1: | 10,327,984 |
| Percentage1: | 39.30% |
| Swing1: | 0.89 pp |
| Leader2: | Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi |
| Leaders Seat2: | Did not contest |
| Party2: | INC(I) |
| Seats2: | 40 |
| Seat Change2: | 9 |
| Popular Vote2: | 10,989,520 |
| Percentage2: | 41.81% |
| Swing2: | 6.08 pp |
| Last Election1: | 38.49%, 174 seats |
| Leader Since2: | 1987 |
| Last Election2: | 35.73%, 49 seats |
| Leader Since1: | 1964 |
| Chief Minister | |
| Posttitle: | Chief Minister after election |
| Before Election: | Jyoti Basu |
| Before Party: | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| After Election: | Jyoti Basu |
| After Party: | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Majority Seats: | 148 |
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.
The governing Left Front denied tickets to 62 sitting legislators. In many cases CPI(M), the dominant force in the Left Front, was seeking to rejuvenate the legislature and fielded 35 student leaders as new candidates.
The star campaigner of the Left Front was Chief Minister Jyoti Basu of CPI(M), who had pledged to visit all constituencies where CPI(M) had fielded candidates. During the campaign Basu claimed that the Delhi government discriminated against West Bengal in allocation of resources.
'Natun Bangla' ('New Bengal') was the key slogan of the Congress(I) campaign. The star campaigner of Congress(I) was Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was flown in from Delhi and toured the state.[1] [2] At the time Gandhi enjoyed significant popularity, especially amongst urban upper-middle class sectors.[2] Gandhi was accompanied by West Bengal Congress(I) chief Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi on the campaign trail.[1] Striking a populist tone in midst of deindustrialisation in the state caused by militant activism of Communist labour unions, Gandhi promised development in West Bengal and to create a million new jobs.[1]
The Congress(I) campaign, whilst being boosted by Gandhi, suffered from internal dissent in party ranks.[1] The state Congress cadre were divided into the pro-Rajiv Gandhi camp, led by A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury and the anti-Rajiv Gandhi camp led by Pranab Mukherjee,[3] who saw not Rajiv but himself as the bonafide successor of Indira Gandhi's political legacy. Feeling sidelined by Rajiv, who dropped him from the Union Cabinet after the 1984 general elections, Mukherjee broke away from the Congress (Indira) in 1986 to found his own party, the Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress. In protest of Mukherjee's exit, his supporters within the Congress(I), notably Subrata Mukherjee & Somen Mitra refused to co-operate with the top leadership.
Whilst an accord had been struck between Gandhi and Gorkha National Liberation Front leader Subhash Ghisingh ahead of the polls, violence escalated in the Darjeeling hills.[1] In the run-up to the polls, several policemen were killed in the area.[1]
The Left Front won 251 out of 294 seats. It obtained 13,918,403 votes (52.96% of the statewide vote).[4]
| Party | Candidates | Seats | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left Front | Communist Party of India (Marxist)< | -- minus Sabang, where the candidate belonged to BBC --> | 212 | 187 | 10,285,723 | 39.12 |
| All India Forward Bloc | 34 | 26 | 1,534,795 | 5.84 | ||
| Revolutionary Socialist Party | 23 | 18 | 1,036,138 | 3.94 | ||
| Communist Party of India | 12 | 11 | 503,854 | 1.92 | ||
| Revolutionary Communist Party of India< | -- contesting as independents in Howrah Central, Hansan and Santipur--> | 3 | 1 | 118,985 | 0.42 | |
| Marxist Forward Bloc< | -- contesting as independents in Tarakeswar and Jamalpur--> | 2 | 2 | 107,732 | 0.41 | |
| Biplobi Bangla Congress< | -- Contesting as CPI(M) in Sabang --> | 1 | 0 | 42,261 | 0.16 | |
| West Bengal Socialist Party and Democratic Socialist Party (Prabodh Chandra)< | -- Contesting as independents. Ideally this row should be split between WBSP and DSP --> | 7 | 6 | 288,915 | 1.10 | |
| Indian National Congress (I) | 294 | 40 | 10,989,520 | 41.81 | ||
| Socialist Unity Centre of India | 46 | 2 | 237,674 | 0.90 | ||
| Indian Union Muslim League | 36 | 1 | 162,850 | 0.62 | ||
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 57 | 0 | 134,867 | 0.51 | ||
| Janata Party | 30 | 0 | 41,475 | 0.16 | ||
| Lok Dal | 18 | 0 | 10,032 | 0.04 | ||
| Indian Congress (Socialist-Sarat Chandra Sinha) | 4 | 0 | 3,335 | 0.01 | ||
| Independents< | -- excluding LF candidates contesting as independents --> | 718 | 0 | 784,937 | 2.99 | |
| Total | 1,497 | 294 | 26,283,093 | 100 | ||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source: Election Commission of India | |||||
It was the last time till date that the Indian National Congress contested without being in any alliance in West Bengal's state elections.
| Constituency | Reserved for (SC/ST/None) | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mekliganj | SC | Sada Kanta | ||
| 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 Guha | ||
| Natabari | None | Sibendra Narayan Chowdhury | ||
| Tufanganj | SC | Manindra Nath Barma | ||
| Kumargram | ST | Subodh Barwa | ||
| Kalchini | ST | Khudiram Pahan | ||
| Alipurduars | None | Nani Bhattacharya | ||
| Falakata | SC | Jagendra Nath Singha Roy | ||
| Madarihat | ST | Sushil Kujur | ||
| Dhupguri | SC | Banamali Roy | ||
| Nagrakata | ST | Sukra Oraon | ||
| Mainaguri | SC | Tarak Bandhu Roy | ||
| Mal | ST | Mohanlal Oraon | ||
| Kranti | None | Sudhan Raha | ||
| Jalpaiguri | None | Nirmal Kumar Bose | ||
| Rajganj | SC | Dhirendra Nath Roy | ||
| Kalimpong | None | Mohansing Rai | ||
| Darjeeling | None | Dawa Lama | ||
| Kurseong | None | Harka Bahadur Rai | ||
| Siliguri | None | Gour Chakroborty | ||
| Phansidewa | ST | Prakash Minj | ||
| Chopra | None | Mahamudin | ||
| Islampur | None | Md. Faruque Azam | ||
| Goalpokhar | None | Mohammad Ranjan Ali | ||
| Karandighi | None | Suresh Chandra Singha | ||
| Raiganj | SC | Khagendra Nath Sinha | ||
| Kaliaganj | SC | Ramani Kanta Deb Sarma | ||
| Kushmandi | SC | Roy Narmada | ||
| Itahar | None | Swadesh Chaki | ||
| Gangarampur | None | Minati Ghosh | ||
| Tapan | ST | Khara Soren | ||
| Kumarganj | None | Dwijendra Mondal | ||
| Balurghat | None | Biswanath Choudhury | ||
| Habibpur | ST | Sarkar Murmu | ||
| Gajol | ST | Suphal Murmu | ||
| Kharba | None | Nazmul Hoque | ||
| Harishchandrapur | None | Birendra Kumar Mitra | ||
| Ratua | None | Mumtaz Begum | ||
| Araidanga | None | Habib Mustafa | ||
| Malda | SC | Subhendu Chowdhury | ||
| Englishbazar | None | Sailen Sarkar | ||
| Manikchak | None | Subodh Chowdhuari | ||
| Suzapur | None | Humayoun Chowdhury | ||
| Kaliachak | None | Dinesh Joardar | ||
| Farakka | None | Abul Hasnat Khan | ||
| Aurangabad | None | Touab Ali | ||
| Suti | None | Shish Mohammad | ||
| Sagardighi | SC | Paresh Nath Das | ||
| Jangipur | None | Habibur Rahaman | ||
| Lalgola | None | Abdus Sattar | ||
| Bhagabangola | None | Syed Nawab Jani Meerja | ||
| Nabagram | None | Birendra Narayan Roy | ||
| Murshidabad | None | Mannan Hossain | ||
| Jalangi | None | Atahar Rahaman | ||
| Domkal | None | Abdul Bari Mahammad | ||
| Naoda | None | Jayanta Kumar Biswas | ||
| Hariharpara | None | Mozammel Hoque | ||
| Berhampore | None | Debabrata Bandapadhyay | ||
| Beldanga | None | Nurul Islam Choudhury | ||
| Kandi | None | Syed Wahed Reza | ||
| Khargram | SC | Bishwanath Mandal | ||
| Barwan | None | Amalendra Roy | ||
| Bharatpur | None | Satya Pada Bhattacharyya | ||
| Karimpur | None | Biswas Chittaranjan(anandapally) | ||
| Palashipara | None | Madhabendu Mohanta | ||
| Nakashipara | None | Sinha Santosh Kumar | ||
| Kaliganj | None | S.m. Fazlur Rahaman | ||
| Chapra | None | Mir Qusem | ||
| Krishnaganj | SC | Nayan Chandra Sarkar | ||
| Krishnagar East | None | Sadhan Chattopadhyay | ||
| Krishnagar West | None | Amritendu Mukhopadhyay | ||
| Nabadwip | None | Biswanath Mitra | ||
| Santipur | None | Bimalananda Mukherjee | ||
| Hanskhali | SC | Sukumar Mandal | ||
| Ranaghat East | SC | Binay Krishna Biswas | ||
| Ranaghat West | None | Gourchandra Kundu | ||
| Chakdaha | None | Subhash Basu | ||
| Haringhata | None | Nani Gopal Malakar | ||
| Bagdaha | SC | Apurba Lal Majumdar | ||
| Bongaon | None | Ranjit Mitra | ||
| Gaighata | None | Kanti Biswas | ||
| Habra | None | Kamal Sen Gupta (bose) | ||
| Ashokenagar | None | Nani Kar | ||
| Amdanga | None | Hashim Abdul Halim | ||
| Barasat | None | Saral Ded | ||
| Rajarhat | SC | Rabindar Nath Mandal | ||
| Deganga | None | A.k.m.uzzaman | ||
| Swarupnagar | None | Anisur Biswas | ||
| Baduria | None | Md. Shelim | ||
| Basirhat | None | Narayan Mukherjee | ||
| Hasnabad | None | Goutam Deb | ||
| Haroa | SC | Kshiti Ranjan Mondal | ||
| Sandeshkhali | SC | Kumud Ranjan Biswas | ||
| Hingalganj | SC | Sudhanshu Mondal | ||
| Gosaba | SC | Ganesh Chandra Mondal | ||
| Basanti | SC | Subhas Naskar | ||
| Kultali | SC | Prabodh Purkait | ||
| Joynagar | None | Deba Prasad Sarkar | ||
| Baruipur | None | Hemen Mojumdar | ||
| Canning West | SC | Gobinda Chandra Naskar | ||
| Canning East | None | Abdur Razzak Molla | ||
| Bhangar | None | Abdur Razzak Molla | ||
| Jadavpur | None | Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee | ||
| Sonarpur | SC | Bhadreswar Mondal | ||
| Bishnupur East | SC | Sundar Naskar | ||
| Bishnupur West | None | Kashi Nath Adak | ||
| Behala East | None | Niranjan Mukherjee | ||
| Behala West | None | Rabin Mukherjee | ||
| Garden Reach | None | Fazle Azim Molla | ||
| Maheshtala | None | Abul Basar | ||
| Budge Budge | None | Kshiti Bhusan Roy Barman | ||
| Satgachia | None | Jyoti Basu | ||
| Falta | None | Arti Das Gupta | ||
| Diamond Harbour | None | Abdul Quiyom Molla | ||
| Magrahat West | None | Abdus Chhohan Gazi | ||
| Magrahat East | SC | Radhika Ranjan Pramanik | ||
| Mandirbazar | SC | Subhash Roy | ||
| Mathurapur | None | Bapuli Satya Ranjan | ||
| Kulpi | SC | Krishnadhan Halder | ||
| Patharpratima | None | Gunadhar Maity | ||
| Kakdwip | None | Hrishikesh Maity | ||
| Sagar | None | Prabhanjan Mondal | ||
| Bijpur | None | Jagadish Chandra Das | ||
| Naihati | None | Tarun Adhikary | ||
| Bhatpara | None | Satyanaryan Singh | ||
| Jagatdal | None | Nihar Basu | ||
| Noapara | None | Jamini Bhusan Saha | ||
| Titagarh | None | Ganga Prasad Shah | ||
| Khardah | None | Asim Kumar Dasgupta | ||
| Panihati | None | Gopalkrishna Bhattacharya | ||
| Kamarhati | None | Radhika Ranjan Banerjee | ||
| Baranagar | None | Matish Roy | ||
| Dum Dum | None | Santi Ranjan Ghatak | ||
| Belgachia East | None | Subhash Chakraborty | ||
| Cossipur | None | Dipak Chanda | ||
| Shyampukur | None | Kiron Chowdhury | ||
| Jorabagan | None | Subrata Mukherjee | ||
| Jorasanko | None | Deoki Nandan Poddar | ||
| Bara Bazar | None | Rajesh Khaitan | ||
| Bow Bazar | None | Sudip Bandyopadhyay | ||
| Chowringhee | None | Debi Prasad Chattopadhyay | ||
| Kabitirtha | None | Ram Pyare Ram | ||
| Alipore | None | Saugata Roy | ||
| Rashbehari Avenue | None | Hoimi Basu | ||
| Tollygunge | None | Prosanta Kumar Sur | ||
| Dhakuria | None | Jatin Chakroborty | ||
| Ballygunge | None | Sachin Sen | ||
| Entally | None | Sultan Ahmed | ||
| Taltola | SC | Sumanta Kumar Hira | ||
| Beliaghata | None | Manabendra Mukherjee | ||
| Sealdah | None | Somendra Nath Mitra | ||
| Vidyasagar | None | Lakshmi Kanta Dey | ||
| Burtola | None | Sadhan Pande | ||
| Manicktola | None | Shyamal Chakraborty | ||
| Belgachia West | None | Sudipto Roy | ||
| Bally | None | Supriya Basu | ||
| Howrah North | None | Asok Ghosh | ||
| Howrah Central | None | Ambica Banerjee | ||
| Howrah South | None | Mrityunjoy Banerjee | ||
| Shibpur | None | Satyendra Nath Ghose | ||
| Domjur | None | Joykesh Mukherjee | ||
| Jagatballavpur | None | M. Ansaruddin | ||
| Panchla | None | Sailendra Nath Mondol | ||
| Sankrail | SC | Haran Hazra | ||
| Uluberia North | SC | Raj Kumar Mondal | ||
| Uluberia South | None | Amar Banerjee (chobi) | ||
| Shyampur | None | Gourhari Adak | ||
| Bagnan | None | Nirupama Chattopadhyay | ||
| Kalyanpur | None | Nitai Charan Adak | ||
| Amta | None | Barindra Nath Koley | ||
| Udaynarayanpur | None | Pannalal Maji | ||
| Jangipara | None | Manindar Nath Jana | ||
| Chanditala | None | Ghosh Malin | ||
| Uttarpara | None | Santashri Chatterjee | ||
| Serampore | None | Arun Kumar Goswami | ||
| Champdani | None | Sunil Sarkar | ||
| Chandernagore | None | Sandhya Chattopadhyay | ||
| Singur | None | Bidyut Kr. Das | ||
| Haripal | None | Balai Banerjee | ||
| Tarakeswar | None | Santi Chatterjee | ||
| Chinsurah | None | Narendra Nath Dey | ||
| Bansberia | None | Prabir Sen Gupta | ||
| Balagarh | SC | Abinash Pramanik | ||
| Pandua | None | Deb Narayan Chakraborty | ||
| Polba | None | Brojo Gopal Neogy | ||
| Dhaniakhali | SC | Kirpasindhu Saha | ||
| Pursurah | None | Buishnupada Bera | ||
| Khanakul | SC | Schindra Nath Hajra | ||
| Arambagh | None | Benode Das | ||
| Goghat | SC | Malick Shibprashad | ||
| Chandrakona | None | Umapati Chakrabortty | ||
| Ghatal | SC | Ratanchandra Pakhira | ||
| Daspur | None | Prabhas Phodikar | ||
| Nandanpur | None | Chhaya Bera | ||
| Panskura West | None | Omar Ali | ||
| Panskura East | None | Sibaram Basu | ||
| Tamluk | None | Surajit Saran Bagchi | ||
| Moyna | None | Pulin Bera | ||
| Mahishadal | None | Surya Chakarbarti | ||
| Sutahata | SC | Lakshman Chandra Seth | ||
| Nandigram | None | Saktiprasad Bal | ||
| Narghat | None | Bankim Behari Maity | ||
| Bhagabanpur | None | Pradhan Prasanta | ||
| Khajuri | SC | Sunirmal Paik | ||
| Contai North | None | Ram Sankar Kar | ||
| Contai South | None | Sukhendu Maiti | ||
| Ramnagar | None | Sudhir Kumar Giri | ||
| Egra | None | Sinha Prabodh Chandra | ||
| Mugberia | None | Kiranmay Nanda | ||
| Pataspur | None | Kamakshyanandan Das Mahapatra | ||
| Sabang | None | Manas Ranjan Bhunia | ||
| Pingla | None | Hari Pada Jana | ||
| Debra | None | Sk. Jahangir Karim | ||
| Keshpur | SC | Himansu Kumar | ||
| Garhbeta East | None | Susanta Ghosh | ||
| Garhbeta West | SC | Krishnaprasad Duley | ||
| Salbani | None | Sundar Hazra | ||
| Midnapore | None | Kamakhya Charan Ghosh | ||
| Kharagpur Town | None | Gyan Singh Sohanpal | ||
| Kharagpur Rural | None | Najmul Haque | ||
| Keshiari | ST | Maheswar Murmu | ||
| Narayangarh | None | Bibhuti Bhusan De | ||
| Dantan | None | Kanai Bhomik | ||
| Nayagram | ST | Ananta Saren | ||
| Gopiballavpur | None | De Sunil | ||
| Jhargram | None | Abani Bhusan Satpathi | ||
| Binpur | ST | Durga Tudu | ||
| Banduan | ST | Lakshi Ram Kisku | ||
| Manbazar | None | Kamalakanta Mahata | ||
| Balrampur | ST | Bikram Tudu | ||
| Arsa | None | Kumar Pandab | ||
| Jhalda | None | Satyaranjan Mahato | ||
| Jaipur | None | Bindeswar Mahato | ||
| Purulia | None | Mamata Mukherjee | ||
| Para | SC | Gobinda Bauri | ||
| Raghunathpur | SC | Natabar Bagdi | ||
| Kashipur | ST | Surendra Nath Majhi | ||
| Hura | None | Ambarish Mukhopadhyay | ||
| Taldangra | None | Amiya Patra | ||
| Raipur | ST | Upen Kisku | ||
| Ranibandh | ST | Rampada Mandi | ||
| Indpur | SC | Madan Bauri | ||
| Chhatna | None | Subjas Goswami | ||
| Gangajalghati | SC | Nabani Bauri | ||
| Barjora | None | Jayasree Mitra | ||
| Bankura | None | Partha De | ||
| Onda | None | Anil Mukherjee | ||
| Vishnupur | None | Achintya Krishna Ray | ||
| Kotulpur | None | Gouri Pada Dutta | ||
| Indas | SC | Badan Bora | ||
| Sonamukhi | SC | Sukhendu Khan | ||
| Kulti | None | Tuhin Samanta | ||
| Barabani | None | Ajit Kumar Chakarbarty | ||
| Hirapur | None | Suhrid Basu Mallik | ||
| Asansol | None | Prabuddha Laha | ||
| Raniganj | None | Bansa Gopal Choudhuri | ||
| Jamuria | None | Bikash Chowdhury | ||
| Ukhra | SC | Bagdi Lakhan | ||
| Durgapur-i | None | Dilip Mazumdar | ||
| Durgapur-ii | None | Tarun Chatterjee | ||
| Kanksa | SC | Krishna Chandra Halder | ||
| Ausgram | SC | Sridhar Malik | ||
| Bhatar | None | Syed Md. Masih | ||
| Galsi | None | Sen Deb Ranjan | ||
| Burdwan North | None | Chowdhury Binoy Krishna | ||
| Burdwan South | None | Sen Nirupam | ||
| Khandaghosh | SC | Shibaprasad Dalui | ||
| Raina | None | Dhirendranath Chatterjee | ||
| Jamalpur | SC | Sunil Santra | ||
| Memari | None | Konar Maharani | ||
| Kalna | None | Anju Kar | ||
| Nadanghat | None | Mansur Habibullah | ||
| Manteswar | None | Hemanta Roy | ||
| Purbasthali | None | Manoranjan Nath | ||
| Katwa | None | Anjan Chatterjee | ||
| Mangalkot | None | Nikhilananda Sar | ||
| Ketugram | SC | Raicharan Majhi | ||
| Nanur | SC | Ananda Gopal Das | ||
| Bolpur | None | Tarapada Ghosh | ||
| Labhpur | None | Majumdar Sunil | ||
| Dubrajpur | None | Bhakti Bhusan Mandal | ||
| Rajnagar | SC | Bijoy Bagdi | ||
| Suri | None | Tapan Ray | ||
| Mahammad Bazar | None | Dhiren Sen | ||
| Mayureswar | SC | Dhiren Let | ||
| Rampurhat | None | Sasanka Mondal | ||
| Hansan | SC | Asit Kumar Mal | ||
| Nalhati | None | Sattick Kumar Roy | ||
| Murarai | None | Motahar Hossain | ||