1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election

The West Bengal state assembly election of 1957 was part of a series of state assembly elections in 1957.

1957 West Bengal state assembly election
May 8, 1957
All 195 seats in the West Bengal state assembly
98 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Bidhan Chandra Roy Jyoti Basu
Party INC CPI
Alliance United Left Election Committee
Leader's seat Bowbazar Baranagar
Seats won 152 80
Seat change 2 52
Percentage 46.14% 33.6%
Swing 7.32% 22.84%
Chief Minister before election

Bidhan Chandra Roy
INC

 Chief Minister

Bidhan Chandra Roy
INC

West Bengal, India

State Reorganization

On 1 November 1956, under States Reorganisation Act, 1956, a portion of the Purnea district east of the river Mahananda and the Purulia sub-district of the Manbhum district in the south (except Char Thana) were transferred from Bihar to West Bengal.[1] Thus, assembly constituencies in West Bengal increased from 187 (238 seats) to 195 (252 seats) during 1957 assembly elections.

Alliances

On the political left two alliances had emerged; the United Left Election Committee (an alliance between the Communist Party of India, the Praja Socialist Party, the Forward Bloc, Marxist Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party) and the United Left Front (comprising the Socialist Unity Centre of India, the Bolshevik Party of India, the Republican Party and the Democratic Vanguard). A third alliance was the United Democratic People's Front, consisting of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Hindu Mahasabha and the Revolutionary Communist Party of India.[2]

Results

Alliance wise result

The election was won by the Indian National Congress, who got a majority of its own in the assembly. The communists became the largest opposition party.

ULFC SEATS ULF SEATS INC+ SEATS UDPF SEATS OTHERS SEATS
CPI 46 SUCI 0 INC 152 BJS 0 IND 25
PSP 21 BPI 0 ABHM 0
AIFB 8 Republican Party RCPI
MFB DV
RSP
TOTAL (1957) 75 TOTAL (1957) 0 TOTAL (1957) 152 TOTAL (1957) 0 TOTAL (1957) 25
TOTAL (1952) 39 TOTAL (1952) 2 TOTAL (1952) 150 TOTAL (1952) 13 TOTAL (1952) 34
Party/Alliance Own %
Indian National Congress 152 46.14%
United Left Election Committee 80 33.6%
United Left Front (1957) 2 2.45%
United Democratic People's Front 0 3.44%
 Summary of results of the 1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election [3]
Party No. of candidates No. of elected No. of votes %
Indian National Congress 251 152 4,830,992 46.14%
Communist Party of India 103 46 1,865,106 17.81%
Praja Socialist Party 67 21 1,031,392 9.85%
Forward Bloc 26 8 425,318 4.06%
Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha 37 25 225,126 2.15%
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 33 0 102,477 0.98%
Independents 418 22 1,989,392 19.00%
Total: 935 252 10,469,803

[4]

See also

References
  1. "Reorganisation of States, 1955" (PDF). The Economic Weekly. October 15, 1955. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  2. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 216.
  3. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1957 : To the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  4. "List Of Political Parties" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
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