Exceptional Political Alteration in West Bengal : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

 Exceptional Political Alteration in West Bengal

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao (May 5, 2026)

Fifty-seven years ago, in 1969, I visited Borsul village in West Bengal’s Burdwan district to attend the All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) conference. At the time, the state was gripped by a profound political and social transformation. The United Front government, led by Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee of the Bangla Congress with the CPI(M) as its dominant partner, held power. Simultaneously, the Naxalbari Movement, radicalised by the Maoist ideology of Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal, was rapidly emerging, challenging the very foundations of the established order.

That was the West Bengal I witnessed, a state then defined by a surging leftist ideology which has now remarkably shifted toward the Bharatiya Janata Party, its philosophical opposite. Furthermore, following the defeat of the CPI(M) in the Kerala Assembly elections, the Left Parties find themselves out of power across all states for the first time since 1977. This represents a profound setback not only for the Communist Movement but for all secular like-minded people throughout the country.

The facets of West Bengal’s movements only become clear by turning the pages of its political history. Both before and after Independence, the Communist Party provided the leading strength for mass agitations, such as the protests against tram fare hikes, the movement against PL 480 wheat imports, and the demand for bilateral talks during the 1962 conflict. From 1952 onward, leftist parties steadily gained momentum in the state, that eventually culminated in the rise of the CPI(M) led Left Front. Its thirty-four-year rule (seven consecutive terms), was the longest-serving democratically elected communist-led government in the world. Mamata’s All-India Trinamool Congress finally cracked the 'Red Fortress.’

Prafulla Chandra (PC) Ghosh was the first Chief Minister, followed by Bidhan Chandra (BC) Roy. In the 1967 elections, two coalitions: the United Left Front and the Peoples United Left Front, challenged the Congress Party. Post election, they merged into the United Front to form the first non-Congress government, with Ajoy Mukherjee of the Bangla Congress as Chief Minister and CPI (M) leader Jyoti Basu as Deputy Chief Minister.

In power from March 15, 1967 to November 2, 1967, the United Front was dismissed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Paradoxically, Gandhi had earlier orchestrated the 1959 dismissal of the EMS Namboodiripad Communist Government in Kerala on July 31, 1959, by pressuring her father Jawaharlal Nehru. Despite this history of undermining them, she later relied on Communist support to survive critical political crises. Such was the nature of Indian politics.

The 1959 dismissal of the EMS Namboodiripad ministry stands as an undemocratic assault on the popular will. By arbitrarily sacking the world’s first democratically elected communist government, the Centre established a blueprint for future Prime Ministers to topple state regimes through various unethical methods. This precedent fundamentally compromised federalism and potentially paved the way for the later manipulation of electoral outcomes in states like West Bengal.

After dismissing the United Front, the Centre installed PC Ghosh as Chief Minister for three months (November 2, 1967 to February 20, 1968), until his precarious position forced the imposition of Presidents Rule in early 1968. Although a mid-term election in 1969 returned Ajoy Mukherjee as Chief Minister (from February 25, 1969 to March 19, 1970), his second United Front Government was again dismissed by the Congress in March 1970. This cycle of displacement had, by then, become standard practice in the federal relationship between Centre and West Bengal.

The Chief Architect of this strategy was Siddhartha Shankar Ray, who held the ‘Atypical Union Portfolio for West Bengal Affairs.’ Following a year of Presidents Rule (March 19, 1970 to April 2, 1971), the 1971 mid-term elections saw the CPI (M) emerge as the single largest party. However, the Governor bypassed the popular mandate to facilitate another Congress Government with PC Ghosh as Chief Minister (April 2, 1971 to June 28, 1971), which lasted barely three months before the state was once again placed under ten months President’s Rule.

The 1972 elections, orchestrated by the duo of Indira Gandhi and Siddhartha Shankar Ray, brought profound disrepute to democracy. Through a strategy of large-scale booth capturing, rampant bogus voting, and counting irregularities, the process mirrored contemporary electoral grievances. Driven by a determination to block the CPI (M) from power, Indira Gandhi employed every unethical measure available to ensure the opposition was systematically sidelined.

Although the CPI (M) led Left Front contested the 1972 elections, large scale irregularities forced a boycott on polling day. Consequently, the Congress claimed 216 seats while the CPI (M) secured only 14 (More or less akin to latest results), leading the opposition to resolve against entering the Assembly. Siddhartha Shankar Ray’s subsequent tenure institutionalized a culture of state sponsored political violence and electoral manipulation, serving as a laboratory for the centralized control Indira Gandhi would later impose nationwide.

Ray’s tenure altered West Bengal’s democratic landscape by demonstrating how administrative overreach and strategic exclusion could neutralize grassroots rivals. This established a precedent for the orchestrated political contests that still define the states’ power struggles. When Indira Gandhi relaxed the Emergency and conducted general elections in 1977, the CPI (M) contested in alliance with the Janata Coalition and achieved a resounding victory.

In the subsequent Assembly elections, the Left Front contested independently and won 243 seats, forming a non-Congress government under Jyoti Basu. After leading the coalition to five consecutive victories and serving as Chief Minister for twenty-three years, Basu stepped down in 2000, handing leadership to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Basu established a record for the longest tenure as state Chief Minister at the time. Bhattacharjee then continued the Left Front rule until his eventual defeat in 2011.

In 1997, Mamata Banerjee founded the All India Trinamool Congress, quickly becoming the primary challenger to the CPI (M). She pursued every possible avenue to unseat them, including alternating alliances with the NDA and Congress, holding Union Cabinet positions, and leading intense agitations against state policies. These efforts gained momentum after the 2006 Assembly setback and a joint 2009 Lok Sabha victory, finally culminating in decisive pre final successes in the municipal and Kolkata Corporation elections which signalled the impending collapse of the Left Front.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee successfully held the Trinamool Congress at bay for years but eventually faced a decisive defeat. Following the 1977 exit of Siddhartha Shankar Ray, a loyal Indira Gandhi associate, the Congress spent over three decades failing to reclaim its lost ground despite intense efforts. It was the Trinamool Congress under Mamata Banerjee that finally achieved this feat, breaking the Left Front dominance to assume power for the first time in the 2011 elections.

Mamata Banerjee did not rise to power by chance. Her ascent was the result of persistent struggle, leading voters to entrust her with three consecutive mandates in 2011, 2016, and 2021. For fifteen years, the people of Bengal have reposed their faith in her leadership against significant odds. Her national prominence began decades earlier when she emerged as a formidable leader by defeating CPI (M) stalwart Somnath Chatterjee to enter Parliament for the first time.

Through triumph and disaster, whether holding Union portfolios or navigating shifting alliances with the Congress and BJP, Mamata Banerjee maintained an unwavering presence in Bengal politics. This persistence eventually defined her success. However, as long as Jyoti Basu led the state, her efforts remained largely in vain. For twenty-three+ years, West Bengal experienced what many consider a golden era under his leadership, a period of stability that initially resisted her rising challenge.

The Left’s ideological rule yielded to Trinamool Congress: Congress offspring, and eventually to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which captured power with a massive majority driven by a religious nationalist plank. Such a total transformation remains unique to Indian Democracy. Ultimately, the Trinamool Congress has been left facing a severe defeat. West Bengal in waiting!