A fifth win, a smaller margin
What happened
The governing coalition won again in West Bengal, though its majority narrowed this time.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 157 of the 294 seats.
Its vote share — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate — was actually 37.9%, lower than the Indian National Congress's 39.5%.
What changed
The governing coalition won again, with more voters showing up at the polls than ever before.
The CPM won for the 5th time running.
About 80.6% of registered voters turned out to cast a ballot — the highest share the state had recorded up to that point.
A new party won seats in the assembly for the first time: GNLF.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from this election stand out.
The tightest race was Ramnagar, West Bengal, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 50 votes.
Turnout peaked in Sabang, West Bengal, where 95.8% of registered voters turned out.
The largest electorate was in Belgachia East, West Bengal, with 2,91,731 registered voters.
The most crowded race was Jorabagan, West Bengal, where 23 candidates stood — the most of any seat that year.
The backdrop
This coalition had governed West Bengal for several elections in a row by this point.
The Left Front, a coalition led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), won the 1977 West Bengal assembly election with 231 of 294 seats. Jyoti Basu was sworn in as Chief Minister on 21 June 1977, beginning a Left Front government that continued through seven consecutive assembly elections until 2011.