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West Bengal State Assembly Election of 1952

← 1946 31 March 1952 1957 →
elected members →
All 187 seats in the West Bengal state assembly 94 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	42.23%
First party Second party   Leader Bidhan Chandra Roy Jyoti Basu Party INC CPI Leader since 1952 1952 Leader's seat Bowbazar Baranagar Last election N/A N/A Seats won 150 28 Seat change N/A N/A Popular vote 2,889,994 800,951 Percentage 38.82% 10.76% Swing N/A N/A
Structure of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly after the election
Chief Minister before election Bidhan Chandra Roy INC Elected Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy INC

The West Bengal State Assembly Election of 1952 was a part of the series of Legislative Assembly elections in 1952. It was the first ever assembly election held in West Bengal.

Alliances

On the political left, two alliances had emerged the United Socialist Organisation of India (an alliance between the Communist Party of India, the Socialist Republican Party and the Forward Bloc (Marxist Group)) and the People's United Socialist Front (comprising the Socialist Party, the Forward Bloc (Ruikar) and the Revolutionary Communist Party of India).

Results

Alliance wise result

The election was won by the Indian National Congress, who got a majority of its own in the assembly. The communists became the largest opposition party.

Party wise result

Summary of results of the 1952 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election

	Political party	Flag	Seats Contested	Won	% of Seats	Votes	Vote %
	Indian National Congress		236	150	63.56	2,889,994	38.82
	Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party		129	15	6.36	667,446	8.97
	Communist Party of India		86	28	11.86	800,951	10.76
	Bharatiya Jana Sangh		85	9	3.81	415,458	5.58
	Forward Bloc (Marxist Group)		48	11	4.66	393,591	5.29
	Socialist Party		63	0		215,382	2.89
	Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha		33	4	1.69	1,76,762	2.37
	Forward Bloc (Ruikar)		32	2	0.85	1,07,905	1.45
	Revolutionary Socialist Party		16	0		63,173	0.85
	Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Tagore)		10	0		32,859	0.44
	Bolshevik Party of India		8	0		20117	0.27
	Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad		14	0		7,100	0.10
	Independent		614	19	8.05	1,653,165	22.21
Total seats			238	Voters	17,628,239	Turnout	7,443,903 (42.23%)

Elected members

State Reorganization

On 1 November 1956, under States Reorganisation Act, 1956, a portion of the Purnea district east of the river Mahananda and the Purulia sub-district of the Manbhum district in the south (except Char Thana) were transferred from Bihar to West Bengal. Thus, assembly constituencies in West Bengal increased from 187 (238 seats) to 195 (252 seats) during 1957 assembly elections.

See also

• 1951–52 elections in India
• 1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election

References

1. Contested as independents. Rao (2003) estimates that they had 19 candidates, out of whom 4 were elected.
2. M.V.S. Koteswara Rao. Communist Parties and United Front - Experience in Kerala and West Bengal. Hyderabad: Prajasakti Book House, 2003. p. 213.
3. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1951 : To the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
4. "Reorganisation of States, 1955" (PDF). The Economic Weekly. October 15, 1955. Retrieved July 25, 2015.

• State Assembly elections in West Bengal
• 1950s in West Bengal
• 1952 State Assembly elections in India
• March 1952 events in Asia