Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal on March 11, 1972.
Background The election was the 4th assembly election in West Bengal within six years. In the previous assembly election held last year, Ajoy Mukherjee of Bangla Congress became the chief minister with support of the INC(R) & the United Left Democratic Front (an alliance of CPI, AIFB, SSP rebels, PSP, BPI - Barada Mukutmoni faction, RCPI - Anadi Das faction & AIGL). President's Rule had been introduced on 29 June 1971 due to fallout of the Congress(R) (with which the Bangla Congress had merged) with the ULDF.
Contenders There were two main fronts in the election; the alliance between the Congress(R) and CPI and the alliance led by CPI(M). The Congress(R)-CPI alliance was known as the Progressive Democratic Alliance. The PDA had a seven-point programme. At the time of the election Indira Gandhi's popularity peaked, with the victory in the Bangladesh Liberation War and electoral promises of land reform. The CPI had also gained significant prestige in West Bengal due to the Soviet support to the Bangladeshi cause in the war.
The CPI(M)-led alliance included RSP, SUCI, RCPI, MFB, WPI, the Biplobi Bangla Congress and some independents. Just before the vote there was a seat-sharing arrangement between the CPI(M)-led alliance and the AIFB. A minor third front, the West Bengal Democratic Alliance, was led by the Congress (O) and included Sushil Kumar Dhara's Bangla Congress faction, the SSP rebels and the Indian Awami League.
Results The Congress(R)-CPI alliance or the Progressive Democratic Alliance won an overwhelming majority in the assembly and formed a new state government, led by Siddhartha Shankar Ray. Several Indian Youth Congress leaders were found among the newly elected legislators. 14 CPI(M) candidates were declared elected, but they refused to participate in the Legislative Assembly during the period of 1972-1977 as they accused that the elections had been rigged.
Alliance/ Party Popular vote Seats Votes % Contested Won rowspan="3" PDA INC(R) 49.08 238 216 CPI 8.33 41 35 Total 57.41% 279 251 rowspan="9" ULF CPI(M) 27.45 208 14 AIFB 2.48 18 0 RSP 2.14 17 3 SUCI 1.79 13 1 WPI 0.48 3 1 RCPI 0.24 3 0 MFB 0.13 1 0 BBC 0.09 1 0 Total 34.80% 264 19NCO+ INC(O) 1.47 64 2 Total 1.47% 64 2 AIGL 0.27% 3 2 IUML 0.91% 27 1 SOP 0.82% 26 0 BJS 0.19% 16 0HMS 0.02% 3 0JKP 0.52% 20 0RPI 0.03% 5 0 Others 4.54% 0 0 IND 3.54% 116 5 Total 100% 280 280Valid votes 13,331,517 97.18Invalid/Blank votes 387,018 2.82Total votes 13,718,535 100.00Registered voters/Turnout22,554,54560.82source: ECI
Results by constituency