Politics in West Bengal is dominated by the following major political parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Indian National Congress (also known as Congress(I)) and the Trinamool Congress. All three are leading a regional bloc of parties, the CPI(M) heads the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress has emerged as the main component of the National Democratic Alliance in the state. The Congress(I) generally head informal alliances of various minor parties that align ahead of elections.
In 1977 the Left Front won the state assembly elections, and since then the state is ruled by communists and other left groups. The West Bengal state government hold the Indian record of period of governance. The last election won by the Left Front was the 2006 state assembly election.
Until 2001, Jyoti Basu was the Chief Minister of the state. After his resignation, due to health reasons, Buddhadev Bhattacharya became the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
In the run up to the 2011 elections, the state has witnessed several violent clashes between the workers of the opposition parties and the ruling party cadres. [1]
In 2011 Assembly Election, Trinamool Congress- Indian National Congress alliance won by a huge margin with Mamata Banerjee becoming the first woman chief minister of West Bengal after a 34 year Communist rule.
Major political parties of West Bengal
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