A third term with a smaller vote share
What happened
The Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), won again in West Bengal, even though the Indian National Congress polled more votes.
It won 187 of the 294 seats — a landslide by seats, if not by votes.
That left it 39 seats clear of a majority.
The INC took 40 seats.
Yet it polled 41.8% of the vote to the CPM's 39.3% — a far bigger gap in seats than in votes.
Together with the rest of the Left Front, it controlled 73.5% of the house.
The campaign
Pranab Mukherjee, dropped from the Union Cabinet by Rajiv Gandhi after the 1984 general election, broke away from the Congress (Indira) in 1986 to found the Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress. His new party fared poorly, contesting separately from Congress(I) rather than backing it.1
Ahead of the poll, the governing Left Front denied renomination to 62 sitting legislators. CPI(M), the dominant force within it, sought to rejuvenate the legislature and fielded 35 student leaders as new candidates.2
Chief Minister Jyoti Basu of CPI(M) was the Left Front's star campaigner that April, pledging to visit every constituency where his party had fielded a candidate. He argued that the central government in Delhi discriminated against West Bengal in its allocation of resources.3
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, flown in from Delhi to tour the state, was Congress(I)'s star campaigner that April. 'Natun Bangla' — New Bengal — was the party's key slogan, and Gandhi promised development in West Bengal and a million new jobs.4
- 1Pranab Mukherjee Breaks Away, Founds Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress — Pranab Mukherjee, Pranab Mukherjee, 1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election
- 2Left Front Drops 62 Sitting MLAs, Fields Student Leaders — 1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election
- 3Jyoti Basu Leads the Left Front's 1987 Campaign — 1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election
- 4Rajiv Gandhi Fronts Congress(I)'s 'Natun Bangla' Campaign — 1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election
What changed
CPM extended its run in office in West Bengal.
It won for the 3rd time running.
The single biggest shift ran from INC to CPM, covering 19 of the 51 seats that changed hands.
CPM itself grew from 174 seats to 187 seats this time.
Turnout, the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot, moved -0.7 pp from the previous election.
Notable numbers
The closest race was at Cossipur, West Bengal, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of 425 votes.
Kalimpong, West Bengal saw the widest margin of the election, 84.3% of the vote.
Debra, West Bengal recorded the highest turnout of any seat, 91.1%.
Belgachia East, West Bengal was the state's largest constituency, with 2,00,562 registered voters.
The most crowded race was at Bara Bazar, West Bengal, which drew 17 candidates.
The backdrop
The Communist Party of India split in 1964, and a breakaway faction registered separately as the Communist Party of India (Marxist).5
That party went on to lead the Left Front to power in West Bengal in 1977, winning 231 of the 294 seats, and Jyoti Basu was sworn in as Chief Minister.6
That government went on to hold office for seven consecutive assembly elections before losing power in 2011.6
- 5CPI Splits, CPI(M) Registers as a Separate Party — 1964 split in the Communist Party of India
- 6Left Front Forms First West Bengal Government — 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election