Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1991. The election took place simultaneously with the 1991 Indian general election.The Hindu. The case against simultaneous polls The term of the assembly elected in 1987 lasted until February 1992, but the West Bengal Government asked the Election Commission of India to arrange the election at an earlier date.
Parties contesting the election Left Front The campaign of the Left Front focused on issues relating to secularism, communal harmony and the Mandal Commission.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the dominant partner in the Left Front, opted to deny reelection to 23 incumbent legislators, including one minister (Abdul Bari). In total CPI(M) fielded 204 candidates, AIFB 34, RSP 23, CPI 12, WBSP 4, MFB 2, DSP 2, RCPI 2, CRLI 1, Janata Dal 8 and the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League 1.
Congress The Indian National Congress (Indira) had seat-sharing arrangement, whereby INC(I) contested 285 seats, the Jharkhand Party 4, the GNLF 3, UCPI 1 and 1 independent.
Jubilant over the CPI(M)-led alliance of Communist parties losing power in 1988 in Tripura, another Indian state with a Bengali majority under Communist rule since 1977, the Indian National Congress (I) brought back former Chief Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray into the party ahead of the 1991 elections, and appointed him head of the West Bengal party unit.India Today. Assembly elections: Seeking a separate strategy Whilst the Congress was keen to exploit Ray's popularity, who campaigned on the issues of corruption like the 'Bengal Lamp scam' raised by the former PWD minister of the Left Front Jatin Chakraborty, the 1990 Bantala rape case and alleged that the deindustrialisation of the state had been caused due to Jyoti Basu's support to hypeeactivity of Communist labour unions, the CPI(M) organ Ganashakti published articles on a daily basis reminding voters of Ray's role in perpetrating state-sponsored anti-Communist violence during the Emergency era.
The INC(I) was suffering from internal divisions in West Bengal at the time of the election.India Today. State assemblies: Of crucial importance The West Bengal state party HQ was attacked by disgruntled Congressmen. In the midst of a rally in Diamond Harbour, with ex Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as speaker, rival Congress factions clashed.
At the time, the United Communist Party of India was a Congress ally. UCPI fielded a single candidate in Chandrakona constituency, who finished in second place.
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party fielded 291 candidates across the state. This was the first time BJP fielded such a large number of candidates in West Bengal assembly elections. Rather than focusing primarily on the Ram-mandir issue, which was highlighted in the BJP campaigns across the country, the West Bengal BJP campaign concentrated on agitations against illegal infiltration of Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh (which at that time.facing political instability due to the fall of Hussain Muhammad Ershad). The campaign sought to invoke memories of Partition among the Bengali Hindus, especially among the Bangal community, many of whom happenend to be East Bengali refugees. Whilst support for BJP increased amongst Bengali Hindu society, its main stronghold in the state remained non-Bengali Hindu populations in Calcutta (especially among Marwaris and Gujaratis).
Socialist Unity Centre of India The Socialist Unity Centre of India fielded 59 candidates, contesting as independents. It had launched an electoral front ahead of the polls, along with some Naxalite factions, the Workers Party of India, a RCPI faction and the Bolshevik Party of India. SUCI won two seats.
Seat Allotment
Party Flag Symbol Leader Contesting Seats Communist Party of India (Marxist) Jyoti Basu 204 225 Janata Dal Vishwanath Pratap Singh 8 West Bengal Socialist Party Kiranmoy Nanda 4 Biplobi Bangla Congress 2 Revolutionary Communist Party of India Baneswar SaikiaRevolutionary Communist Party of India. Leadership 2 Marxist Forward Bloc Pratim Chatterjee 2 Democratic Socialist Party Prabodh Chandra Sinha 1 Communist Revolutionary League of India 1 Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League 1 All India Forward Bloc Chitta Basu 34 Revolutionary Socialist Party Kshiti Goswami 23 Communist Party of India Indrajit Gupta 12 Total 294
Party Flag Symbol Leader Contesting Seats Indian National Congress Siddhartha Shankar Ray 285 Jharkhand Party N. E. Horo 4 Gorkha National Liberation Front 3 United Communist Party of India Mohit Sen 1 Independent 1 Total 294
Party Flag Symbol Leader Contesting Seats Bharatiya Janata Party Tapan Sikdar 291 Total 291
Results The election was won by the Left Front, marking its fourth consecutive assembly election victory. The Left Front and allies won 245 out of the 294 seats.Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1991 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL BJP managed to increase its share of votes from 0.51% in 1987 to 11.34%. It was the best ever performance of BJP in the state until 2014 general elections. PartyCandidatesSeatsVotes%Left Front & alliesCommunist Party of India (Marxist)20418210,954,37935.37All India Forward Bloc34291,707,6765.51Revolutionary Socialist Party23181,073,4453.47Communist Party of India126542,9641.75West Bengal Socialist Party44208,1470.67Marxist Forward Bloc22130,4540.42Democratic Socialist Party (Prabodh Chandra)2298,9050.39Revolutionary Communist Party of India2192,5440.30Biplobi Bangla Congress1050,4140.16Janata Dal81208,9510.67Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League1035,4890.11Communist Revolutionary League of India1022,7160.07Congress & alliesIndian National Congress (Indira)2844310,875,83435.12Gorkha National Liberation Front33146,5410.47Jharkhand Party61140,3910.45United Communist Party of India1040,8060.13Congress-supported independent1040,4260.13Bharatiya Janata Party29103,513,12111.34Jharkhand Mukti Morcha23095,0380.31Bahujan Samaj Party97088,8360.29Janata Party78050,0370.16Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)18041,8280.14Indian People's Front23039,0040.13Indian Union Muslim League28028,1560.09Amra Bangalee60022,2950.07Workers Party of India6010,6700.03Hul Jharkhand Party309,2390.03Doordashti Party2604,9800.02Marxist Communist Party of India503,8040.01Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha501,5530.01Akhil Bharatiya Jan Sangh601,4850.00Indian National Congress (O) Anti Merger Group501,3090.00All India Dalit Muslim Minorities Suraksha Mahasangh209880.00Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Gouranga Sit)109830.00Shiv Sena108800.00Indian Congress (Socialist-Sarat Chandra Sinha)108760.00Bolshevik Party of India103350.00Bharat Dal102030.00Lok Dal101210.00Bidhan Dal10920.00IndependentsIncluding Socialist Unity Centre of India candidates6312684,1302.21%Total1,90329430,970,045100Source: Election Commission of India
Since a CPI(M)-led alliance of Communist parties in Kerala had lost the elections in Kerala held simultaneously that year to a Congress-led alliance, West Bengal was the lone Indian state to be under Communist rule until 1993 when the Communists were re-elected back to power in Tripura.
Elected members