The Left Front () is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was formed in January 1977 led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) with other founding parties being the All India Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Marxist Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India and the Biplobi Bangla Congress. Other parties joined in later years, most notably the Communist Party of India.

The Left Front ruled the state of West Bengal for 34 years in seven consecutive terms 1977–2011, five with Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister and two under Buddhadev Bhattacharya.People's Democracy. West Bengal: How The Left Front And Its Government Emerged The CPI(M) is the dominant force in the alliance. In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election the Left Front failed to gain a majority of seats and left office. As of 2026 Biman Bose is the Chairman of the West Bengal Left Front Committee.Embassy of Cuba in India. AIPSO WEST BENGAL OBSERVES FIDEL’S 90 BIRTHDAY

History

Left-Janata alliance in 1977 Lok Sabha election The Left Front has its roots in various past platforms of collaboration of the West Bengal left parties and anti-Indian National Congress forces. Such examples were the United Left Front, the People's United Left Front and the United Front that governed West Bengal 1967–1971. However, ahead of the March 1977 Lok Sabha election the left parties under the leadership of CPI(M) decided to form an alliance just amongst themselves, based on past negative experiences in collaboration with centrist anti-Congress forces.

The Left Front was set up when the repressive climate of the Emergency was finally relaxed in January 1977. The six founding parties of the Left Front, i.e. the CPI(M), the All India Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Marxist Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India and the Biplabi Bangla Congress, articulated a common programme. The Left Front contested the Lok Sabha election in an electoral understanding together with the Janata Party. The Workers Party of India applied for inclusion into the Left Front, but was denied entry.

In the 1977 Lok Sabha election the Left Front contested 26 out of the 42 West Bengal Lok Sabha constituencies; CPI(M) fielded candidates for 20 seats, RSP 3 seats and AIFB 3 seats. CPI(M) won 17 seats, AIFB 3 seats and RSP 3 seats.Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1977 TO THE SIXTH LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS) The combined Left Front vote in West Bengal reached 5,049,077 votes (33.4% of the votes cast in the state).

Left victory in 1977 assembly polls Ahead of the subsequent June 1977 West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections seat-sharing talks between the Left Front and the Janata Party broke down. The Left Front had offered the Janata Party 52% of the seats and the post as Chief Minister to JP leader Prafulla Chandra Sen, but JP did not accept anything less than 56% of the seats. The Left Front thus opted to contest the elections on its own. It issued a 36-point manifesto ahead of the polls. The Left Front manifesto has similarities with the past 32-point United Front manifesto.

The seat-sharing within the Left Front was based on the 'Promode Formula', named after the CPI(M) State Committee Secretary Promode Dasgupta. Under the Promode Formula the party with the highest share of votes in a constituency would continue to field candidates there, under its own election symbol and manifesto.

CPI(M) contested 224 seats, AIFB 36, RSP 23, MFB 3, RCPI 4 and BBC 2.Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1977 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL There was also a Left Front-supported independent candidate in the Chakdaha seat.

The Left Front won the election, winning 231 out of the 294 seats.New Left Review. RED BENGAL’S RISE AND FALL CPI(M) won 178 seats, AIFB 25, RSP 20, MFB 3, RCPI 3 and 1 independent. AIFB and RSP won significant chunks of seats in northern Bengal. The combined Left Front vote was 6,568,999 votes (45.8% of the votes cast in the state). The electoral result came as a surprise to the Left Front itself, as it had offered 52% of the seats in the pre-electoral seat-sharing talks with the Janata Party.

First Left Front government

On 21 June 1977 the Left Front formed a government with Jyoti Basu as its Chief Minister.People's Democracy. Thirty Years of Left Front Government in West Bengal The first cabinet meeting of the Left Front government ordered the release of political prisoners.Hindustan Times. Timeline of Left Front government in West Bengal

The Socialist Party joined the Left Front after the 1977 elections. Prior to the arrival of the Left Front government, the political environment of West Bengal was chaotic, and the new cabinet struggled to establish order. The first years of governance was shaky, as the CPI(M) struggled with the notion of managing a communist government within a capitalist framework. Minor coalition partners expressed concern over inviting multinational corporations to invest in West Bengal.

Operation Barga and panchayat polls In the initial phase of Left Front governance, two key priorities were land reform and decentralisation of administration.People's Democracy. West Bengal Left Front Govt: A Historic Anniversary On 29 September 1977 the West Bengal Land (Amendment) Bill was passed. Through Operation Barga was done before in 1967 under the leadership of Hare Krishna Konar and Benoy Choudhury, in which share-croppers were given inheritable rights on lands they tilled, 1.1 million acres of land was distributed amongst 1.4 million share-croppers. On 4 June 1978 three-tier panchayat local bodies were elected across the state, elections in which the Left Front won a landslide victory. Some 800,000 acres of land were distributed to 1.5 million heads of households between 1978 and 1982. The Left Front government was also credited with coping with the refugee situation created by the Bangladesh Liberation War and severe floods.

Seeing distribution of central government funds as unjust and politicized, the Left Front government began measures to pressure the central government to change its approach towards the state governments. These movements eventually resulted in the Sarkaria Commission.

1980 Lok Sabha election

Ahead of the 1980 Lok Sabha election the Left Front and the Communist Party of India entered into a seat-sharing agreement. CPI(M) contested 31 seats, RSP 4 seats, AIFB 4 seats and CPI 3 seats. CPI(M) won 28 seats, CPI 3 seats, AIFB 3 seats and RSP 4 seats.Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1980 TO THE SEVENTH LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS) The combined Left Front-CPI vote in West Bengal reached 11,086,354 votes (52.7% of the votes cast in the state).

On 27 May 1980 the Left Front cancelled the past Code of Conduct for state government employees, which had limited the right to strike.

Second Left Front government

Three new members In 1982 the Left Front acquired three new members, CPI joined the Left Front ahead of the 1982 West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections and the Socialist Party was split into the Democratic Socialist Party (Prabodh Chandra) and the West Bengal Socialist Party (both DSP and WBSP became Left Front member parties). Some of the older, smaller Left Front constituents were uncomfortable with the expansion of the alliance, claiming that CPI(M) was diluting it politically. There were also disagreements on distribution of ministerial portfolios after the expansion of the alliance.

1982 assembly election CPI(M) contested 209 seats in the assembly election, CPI 12 seats, AIFB 34 seats and RSP 23 seats. 16 candidates were fielded by the remainder of Left Front partners (RCPI, WBSP, DSP, BBC, MFB) and contested as independents.Election Commission of India. REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1982 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL

The Left Front won 238 out of 294 seats in the election. CPI(M) won 174 seats, CPI 7 seats, AIFB 28 seats, RSP 19 seats, WBSP 4 seats, DSP 2 seats, RCPI 2 seats, MFB 2 seats. The combined Left Front vote was 11,869,003 votes (52.7% of the votes cast in the state). The incumbent Food Minister, the RCPI leader Sudhindranath Kumar, lost his seat. Kumar was proposed as a candidate for a Rajya Sabha seat on behalf of the Left Front in 1984, but that move did not go down well with RSP and AIFB.

Jyoti Basu and five cabinet minister were sworn in on 27 May 1982. Another 15 cabinet ministers and 22 Ministers of State were sworn in on 2 June 1982.

1984 Lok Sabha election In the 1984 Lok Sabha election, CPI(M) contested 31 seats, RSP 4 seats, AIFB 4 seats and CPI 3 seats. CPI(M) won 18 seats, CPI 3 seats, AIFB 2 seats and RSP 3 seats.Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1984 TO THE EIGHT LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS) The Left Front vote in West Bengal reached 12,296,816 votes (47.6% of the votes cast in the state).

Calcutta Municipal Corporation polls On 30 June 1985, the first Calcutta Municipal Corporation elections were held under the Left Front rule, an election that the alliance won.

Third Left Front government

1987 assembly election In the 1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election the Left Front increased its share of seats to 251. CPI(M) had contested 213 seats, CPI 12 seats, AIFB 34 seats and RSP 23 seats. 12 candidates were fielded by smaller Left Front partners on independent tickets.Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1987 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL

CPI(M) won 187 seats, CPI 11 seats, AIFB 26 seats, RSP 18 seats, WBSP 4 seats, MFB 2 seats, DSP 2 seats and RCPI 1 seat. The Left Front vote stood at 13,924,806 (53%).

1989 Lok Sabha election In the 1989 Lok Sabha election, CPI(M) contested 31 seats, RSP 4 seats, CPI 3 seats and AIFB 3 seats. In Calcutta Northwest the Left Front supported a Janata Dal candidates who failed to get elected.India Today. Key contests: Pulling out the stops CPI(M) won 27 seats, CPI 3 seats, AIFB 3 seats and RSP 4 seats.Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1989 TO THE NINTH LOK SABHA – VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS) The Left Front vote in West Bengal, including the votes for the JD candidate, reached 16,284,415 votes (50.6% of the votes cast in the state).

Fourth Left Front government

1991 assembly election In the 1991 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election the Left Front won 244 seats. CPI(M) had fielded 205 candidates (excluding minor parties contesting on CPI(M) tickets), CPI 11, AIFB 34, RSP 23, MFB 2, RCPI 2, DSP 2, WBSP 4 and BBC 1.Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1991 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF WEST BENGAL Several leaders of minor Left Front parties contested on the CPI(M) symbol, such as Kiranmoy Nanda (WBSP), Gouranga Samanta (BBC) and Prabodh Chandra Sinha (DSP). However, DSP also one candidate with its own symbol in Pingla. MFB fielded 1 candidate on an independent ticket and 1 candidate on CPI(M) ticket. The Left Front supported Janata Dal candidates in 8 constituencies, mainly in and around Calcutta, as well as 1 candidate of the All India Gorkha League and 1 candidate of the Communist Revolutionary League of India.

CPI(M) won 182 seats, CPI 6 seats, AIFB 29 seats, RSP 18 seats, WBSP 4, seats, DSP 2 seats, RCPI 1 seat, MFB 2 seats and DSP 1 seat (on its own symbol). One JD candidate won. The combined vote for Left Front and allies stood at 15,090,595 (48.92% of the votes cast in the state).

1991 Lok Sabha election