Talk:1971 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election

BBC?

So, I have a problem with the result as it is presented by the Election Commission of India website (https://eci.gov.in/files/file/3186-west-bengal-1971/). There is a label "BBC", in the acronyms list stated as "BHARATER BIPLABI COMMUNIST PARTY", presumably being the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Tagore). BBC is listed as having three candidates and one elected MLA, Prayag Mandal from Indpur. However, it appears from various sources that Mandal belonged to the Biplobi Bangla Congress (usually known as "BBC", but assigned "BIB" by ECI in this election result). So I'd like to go ahead and treat this candidate as a Biplobi Bangla Congress candidate. However, what about the other BBC and BIB candidates? Shall we assume ECI mixed them up altogether? --Soman (talk) 13:06, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

Referencing

So sourcing the result for this article isn't that easy. Usually the statistical reports of the Election Commission of India are high quality and well structured, but for some reason the 1971 West Bengal assembly election report is a complete mess ( https://eci.gov.in/files/file/3186-west-bengal-1971/ ).

• Many names are misspelled
• Gender markers are not applied correctly (all candidates identified as Male in the results, whilst in another section it is stated that there were 3 women candidates)
• There is at least 1 duplicate candidate, and in at least 1 constituency two candidates have exactly the same number of votes.
• Party identities are not applied well, there is the case of "BIB" and "BBC" mentioned above, but there is seemingly some additional mix-up between "RCI" and "BBC".
• The two "BIB" candidates are clearly Biplobi Bangla Congress/ULF candidates. The "BBC" candidate in Gosaba, Kamalapada Mondal (653 votes, 1.21%), is clearly not Biplobi Bangla Congress, since he competed with both ULF and ULDF candidates. The "BBC" candidate in Raipur, Syam Charan Mandy (5945 votes, 13.60%), could in theory be a RCPI candidate but Biplobi Bangla Congress seems more likely. In nearby Indpur the winning "BBC" candidate Prayag Mandal is clearly Biplobi Bangla Congress, this is explicitly clarified in
• There are 6 candidates identified as "RCI"/"Revolutionary Communist Party of India" in the ECI statistical report - Trilochan Mal in Hansan, Bimalananda Mukherjee in Santipur and Sudhin Kumar in Howrah Central are clearly the candidates for the ULF-affiliated main faction of the Revolutionary Communist Party of India. 'Somendra Nath Tagore' in Chakdah is clearly the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Tagore) (and in Chakdah there is also CPM and CPI candidates). But there is also Mrityunhoy Ghose in Barwan (779 votes, 2.16%), Nirdhan Sardar in Domjur (880 votes, 1.54%), Maji Dakshineswar in Barabani (531 votes, 1.28%). In Barwan there are no other clearly identifiable ULF or ULDF candidate - the main left candidate is from RSP. In Domjur there is a CPI(M) candidate. In Barabani there is CPI(M) and CPI candidates.
• explictly states that Kumar, Mal and Mukherjee were from "RCPI-Kumar".
• My take is that the "BBC" candidate in Gosaba and the RCI candidates in Chakdah, Barwan, Domjur and Barabani would be the candidates of the RCPI (Tagore). Notably the RCPI (Tagore) had contested elections previously under the label "BBCP/Bharater Biplobi Communist Party"

In addition, which isn't the ECI's fault and as is the case with many elections, we have the issue with party candidates contesting as independents or on tickets of another party.

• There are 7 winning candidates of the Muslim League, all seemingly contesting as independents, but what about non-successful candidates of the party?
• identifies A. K. Hasanuzzaman (Bhangar), Nasiruddin Khan (Naoda) and Govinda Chandra Mondal (Nakashipara) as Muslim League politicians becoming ministers after the election.
• Badruddin Ahmad, Jangipur, Muslim League, Md. Samayun Biswas, Bhagarangola, Muslim League, Harun al Rashid, Deganga, Muslim League, Aftabuddin Ahmed, Hariharpara, Muslim League
• Mir Fakir Mohammed, Kaliganj, Independent candidate, is presented as CPI(M) legislator here A decade later, Birendra Narayan Ray, Independent winner in Nabagram, was in the CPI(M).
• Socialist India identifies Kashi Kanta Maitra (Independent winner in Krishnagar East, 18,139 votes) as "SSP Biplabi". Notably whilst ECI indicates that SSP had 24 candidates, won no seats and got 69,567 votes in total, the summary of the CPI(M) SSP had 25 candidates, 1 winner, 87,697 votes in total. There are multiple references to the ULDF-aligned SSP or a SSP dissident faction joining the government after the election. Presumably the 25th SSP candidate in the CPI(M) summary is Kashi Kanta Maitra, and thus there was presumably no further independent candidates of the Maitra SSP Biplabi faction? But per Gray (1971), see below, the ULDF-aligned SSP had 27 candidates.
• M. Mokshed Ali and Anadi Das are presumably the candidates of the ULDF-aligned Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Das) (referred to as 'RCPI(A)' by the CPI(M)), but where there any more RCPI(A) candidates? Per Gray (1971), see below, the ULDF-aligned RCPI had 3 candidates.
• Per CPI(M) the ULF-aligned BPI had 2 candidates with a total of 10,491 votes, whilst it has no estimate on the number of candidates and votes of the ULDF-aligned BPI. Gray (1971) on the other hand has no estimate of the number of candidates of the ULF-aligned BPI but states that the ULDF-aligned BPI had 2 candidates. To confuse things further, CPI(M) refers to the ULDF-aligned BPI as "BPI(D)" whilst Gray refers to the ULF-aligned BPI as "Dissident Bolshevik Party". Now, Barada Mukutmoni, candidate on CPI ticket in Chakdah is easily identifiable as the leader of the ULDF-aligned BPI. But the others are more difficult to identify. In Alipore the candidate on CPI(M) ticket is Nepal Bhattacharya, who could be the ULF-aligned BPI leader (although there are also mentions of a CPI(M) leader with same name in later years, possibly the same person).

Wahlkampf in Indien (Gray 1971) writes "Während sich 1967 in West-Bengalen 3 Gruppierungen gegenüberstanden (CPM- geführte Front, CPI-Bangla Congress-Front, Congress), hatten sich die CPM minierweile isoliert und die CPI und der Bangla-Congress voneinander getrennt. Somit gruppierten sich 35 Parteien in:

• I. United Left Front, dominiert von der CPM (mit 238 der 270 von der Front nominierten Assembly Kandidaten), daneben Federation of Muslims and other Minori ties, Revolutionar/ Communist Party, Biplobi Bangla Congress, Dissident Bolshevik Party, Workers Party of India, Marxist Forward Bloc.
• II. United Left Democratic Front (die Betonung liegt auf »democratic«), gebildet aus der CPI (110 Kandidaten), Forward Bloc (54), SSP (27), Socialist Unity Center (27), PSP-Dissidents (15), Gurkha League (3), Revolutionary CPI (3) Bolshevik Party (2).
• III. Democratic Consolidation unter Führung des Bangla-Congress (135) mit 2 Splittergruppen der SSP und einer Dissident-PSP-Gruppe (zusammen 40 Kandidaten).

Congress-R, Congress-O, PSP, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Lok Sevak Sangh, Muslim League, Jharkand Party und Jan Sangh zogen das selbstsichere »We go it alone« vor. Deutlicher als durch die verwirrende Vielfalt dieser Parteien 19 läßt sich die Fragmentarisierung des politischen Systems in diesem Staat nicht demonstrieren. (Die Naxaliten hatten übrigens zu einem Boykott der Wahlen aufgerufen.)"

And Journal of the Society for Study of State Governments writes - "For purposes of this election , the EPC was converted into United Left Democratic Party ( ULDF ) consisting of the CPI , Forward Bloc , SUC , PSP ( dissident ) , Gorkha League , RCPI and Bolshevik Party . The SSP ( official group ) which had been in the EPC ( now ULDF ) all through , did not formally become a constituent of ULDF in view of the decision of its Central Comınittee not to be a partner of any Front . It , however , associated itself " wholly ” with the Front on the basis of adjustment of seats and also assured that it would make no alliance or adjustment of seats with any other party or group of parties outside the ULDF. In the beginning, the Bangla Congress and Congress (R) decided to have an electoral pact with each other but they could not come to an agreement over the distribution of seats. The Bangla Congress was prepared to give more seats to Congress ( R ) in the Lok Sabha , but it wanted a majority of Assembly seats for itself , to which Congress ( R ) did not agree ." - "A third front was soon formed in the name of Democratic Consolidation Front , an alliance of Bangla Congress and Socialist Consolidation ( SC ) . Later , PSP also joined this Front. Congress ( R ) faced the election on its own."

And... "on January 24, formally announced the formation of "Democratic Consolidation" which decided to contest 153 Assembly and 16 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. The constituents besides the Bangla Congress include dissidents from PSP , SSP and the Socialist Party. A brief election manifesto released at a press conference committed the front to the task of fighting lawlessness on the one hand and "reactionary forces" on the other."

More on the mess of the PSP/SSP factions; "In the same year [i.e. 1971], a small faction of S.S.P. led by Kashi Kanta Moitra, and a faction of dissident P.S.P. (which left PS .P. in 1969 while joining the front ministry) led by Sudhir Das also joined Congress only to have a berth in the ministry" (the joining with Congress presumably relates to the post-election cabinet formation).

"SSP nil (9 in 1969 - an SSP dissident has won one seat). The PSP got in 1969 five seats : of these four parted as PSP (dissident) and joined the U.F. in 1969. This time PSP has won three seats while all the dissident-PSP candidates have lost" (Note that Janata was a PSP publication) Of the 5 PSP legislators elected in 1969 - Md. Salim in Goalpakhar ran again as PSP candidate (lost), Subodh Gopal Guchhait in Contai North doesn't appears as candidate, Sudhir Chandra Das in Contai South ran again as PSP candidate and won, Balailal Dasmahapatra in Ramnagar now contested as Independent and lost, Bibhti Pahapi in Egra contested as Independent and lost (to PSP candidate). So the issue of Sudhir Chandra Das' party identity is clouded, seems from other material that he split from PSP in 1969 to join UF but this time he's again listed as PSP candidate. In none of the adjacent Contai North-Contai South-Egra-Ramnagar constituencies is there any other identifiable ULDF candidate. In Goalpakhar there is a SSP (ULDF) candidate.

Chander (2004) presents the following tally from the election;

• Congress (R) 105
• Congress (O) 2
• Bangla Congress 5
• CPI(M) 111
• RCPI 3
• FB (M) 2
• PSP 3
• RSP 3
• Gorkha League 2
• Jarkhand 2
• Muslim League 7
• Jan Sangh 1
• Workers Party 2
• Biplabi Bangla Cong 2
• Bolshevik Party 0
• CPI 13
• FB 3
• SSP 1
• SUC 7
• INDF 3

Total 277 (elections had been countermanded in 3 seats per Chander (2004)).

I can't read all of CPI(M)'s p. 305, I just get it in snippet-view, but from what I can gather;

Party	Candidates	Won	Votes	%
1. ULF
1.1. CPI(M)	240 *	113	42,33,670	32.81
1.2. WPI	3	2	62,927	0.49
1.3 MFB	3	2	53,132	0.41
1.4 RCPI	7	3	38,615	0.30
1.5 BBC	5	1	36,453	0.28
1.6 BPI	2	x	10,491	0.08
1.7 IND1	19	4	15,413	0.12
Sub-total of ULF	279	125	44,50,401	34.49
2. INC	240	105	37,74,156	29.25
3. ULDF
3.1 CPI	109	13	10,87,096	8.42
3.2 FB	52	3	3,74,131	2.90
3.1 SUCI	25	7	2,04,119	1.58
3.4 SSP	25	1	87,697	0.68
3.5 GL	3	2	38,180	0.30
3.6 PSP(D)	NA	x	NA	NA
3.7 BPI(D)	NA	x	NA	NA
3.8 RCPI(A)	NA	x	NA	NA
Sub-Total of ULDF	214(+)	26	17,91,223(+)	13.88(+)
4. INCO	220	2	7,24,631	5.62

Thereafter I just get "5. ВС 6**. - ML 7. RSP 8. PSP 9. ABJS 10. JHP IK LSS 12. ABHM 13. IND" in the snippet view summary. "*" indicates inclusion of 4 CPI(M)-supported independents. "**" indicates that BC supported INC (which seems as a kinda political remark). It also clarifies that election was counter-manded in Shyampukur constituency due to the murder of Hemanta Basu of FB.

Another tally is that made by CPI (1971) Unfortunately I can't see the numbers for the first 3 lines (CPI(M), CPI, Congress (R)), but the rest looks like this;

Party	Candidates	Seats	Votes	%
Congress (O)	223	2	739,216	5.58
Bangla Congress	135	5	686,358	5.18
Forward Bloc	53	3	357,152	2.70
Muslim League	56	7	343,262	2.59%
RSP	40	3	280,199	2.12%
SUC	24	7	208,875	1.58
Jana Sangh	24	1	90,428	0.68
SSP	25	1	90,428	0.68
PSP	17	3	96,856	0.72
Gorkha League	3	2	38,380	0.29
LSS	7	0	41,130	0.31
Forward Bloc (M)	3	2	64,438	0.49
RCPI (Kum.)	3	3	38,xxx	0.29
Workers' Party	3	2	62,927	0.48
Bipl. BC	9	1	45,355	0.34
Hindu Mahasabha	1	-	500	-
Others and Independents	195	6	NA	NA

Comparing Chander (2004), CPI(M) and the ECI statistical report - there are the following differences:

• Total 277 in Chander (2004), 279 in CPI(M) and ECI
• CPI(M) gets 111 in Chander (2004), 113 in CPI(M) and ECI (could be explained by the countermandered constituencies in Chander (2004))
• Chander says Biplobi Bangla Cong got 2 seats, 1 according to CPI(M) and 1 according to ECI (albeit mislabelled as "Bharater Biplobi Communist Party" as discussed above). Chander is clearly wrong on this one.
• Regarding the 12 independents elected in the ECI summary - 1 is Maitra (SSP rebel, whom CPI(M) includes in the SSP ULDF tally, completely missing in Chander's tally), 7 are Muslim League (many references confirms this, including CPI(M) and Chander). Regarding the remaining 4 - CPI(M) says they are ULF independents, Chander includes 3 as INDF.

Per Link, March 1971 issue, "In the CPI front are Forward Bloc ( contesting 53 and 10 seats respectively for the Assembly and the Lok Sabha and SSC 27 and 3 ) . The other parties in the front are minor parties . The Gorkha League has relevance only in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts , and the dissident PSP has some strength in Midnapur . The CP - M ' s partners are even less significant ; some of them are only labels . Anti - Congressism : Two other parties which have not joined any front are the RSP and the LSS . The RSP is contesting 40 Assembly seats and five Lok Sabha seats . Another significant party in the election is the Muslim League . It is con - testing 80 Assembly seats and eight Lok Sabha seats."

"The PSP (Rebel), the SSP faction within the ULDF, the Bolshevik party and the RCPI (Anadi Das group) drew a blank."

"The India Union Muslim League , after years of isolation in south India , had reestablished itself in West Bengal in 1968 , elected seven M . L . A . ' s in 1971 , and joined the United Front cabinet of Ajoy Mukherjee"

Regarding the countermandered seats: Shyampukhur, Hemanta Kumar Basu of Forward Bloc murdered in broad daylight on Feb 20, 1971. Debdatta Mondal Bangla Congress, murdered on Feb 17, 1971, 250-Ukhra (SC), countermand 6th June, 1971. "But unfortunately the poll in Shampukur assembly constituency could not be held because Shri Ajit Kumar Biswas [Forward Bloc] who was nominated after the murder of Shri Hemanta Kumar Basu was also murdered on the 28th May, 1971, necessitating a second countermand of the poll in that constituency." "The candidate Shri Pijush Chandra Ghosh [INC(O)] one of the contesting candidates in 127-Dum Dum assembly constituency was murdered on 5th March, 1971." --Soman (talk) 15:38, 9 June 2020 (UTC)

As of the 1980s, Durgadas Ghosh in Murarai was CPI(M) candidate. In other words, he was probably a CPI(M)-supported candidate here as well, seeing how there was no other ULF candidate in Murarai... --Soman (talk) 20:49, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Rohini Karan in Ramnagar is an even easier case, being CPI(M) candidate in 1972 --Soman (talk) 22:44, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

References