Politics of West Bengal

[4] The area's early history featured a succession of Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance.

Ancient Bengal was the site of several major Janapadas (kingdoms), while the earliest cities date back to the Vedic period.

In 1950, the Princely State of Koch Bihar merged with West Bengal after King Jagaddipendra Narayan had signed the Instrument of Accession with India.

Portions (the then Manbhum) of Bihar were subsequently merged with West Bengal and now this region serves as the district of Purulia.

[citation needed] During Bidhan Chandra Roy's Chief Minister-ship a number of manufacturing industries were set up in the state.

Bidhan Roy is often considered 'The Maker of Modern West Bengal' due to his key role in the founding of several institutions and five eminent cities in the state: Durgapur, Kalyani, Bidhannagar, Ashokenagar and Habra.

After the state legislative elections held in 1967, the CPI(M) was the main force behind the United Front government formed.

During the 1970s and 1980s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist-Naxalite movement damaged much of the state's infrastructure, leading to a period of economic stagnation.

The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 resulted in the influx of millions of refugees to West Bengal, causing significant strains on its infrastructure.

West Bengal politics underwent a major change when the Left Front won the 1977 assembly election, defeating the incumbent Indian National Congress.

The Left Front, led by Communist Party of India (Marxist), had governed for the state for the subsequent three and a half decades.

[8] But with the active support of CPI and the Bangla Congress, Ajoy Mukherjee was returned as Chief Minister of the state.

Indian National Congress won the 1972 assembly election, and its leader Siddhartha Shankar Ray became the chief minister.

This period was marked by large scale violence as the police force battled with the Naxalites in the state of West Bengal.

[10][11]After leading the Left Front government for consecutive five terms, Jyoti Basu retired from active politics and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was appointed as his successor.

Banerjee's "Save Farmland" movement was supported by civil rights and human rights groups, legal bodies, and social activists like Medha Patkar, Anuradha Talwar, Arundhati Roy and Magsaysay and Jnanpith Award-winning author Mahasweta Devi.

[16] The Trinamool Congress, collaborating with the Maoists, had isolated the entire area from the rest of the country, by cutting up all the roads and blocking them by tree trunks.

In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, the Left Front was defeated by the All India Trinamool Congress which won an absolute majority of seats.