Calcutta during the 1970's

Calcutta has come a long way from the unstable times of the 1970’s.With the stability of the Left Front government, Calcutta, as the capital of West Bengal, has become one of the few remaining strongholds of the left wing parties of India. In the year 2000, the Left Front completed 24 years of rule under the leadership of the Chief Minister Mr. Jyoti Basu who retired as India's longest serving Chief Minister of a state. Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee succeeded Mr. Basu as the Chief Minister of West Bengal in 2001 and remains so till date (2008).


The Left Front’s main opposition in the state - the Indian National Congress (INC) -suffered a setback when in 1997 a former Congress party member and a popular leader, Miss Mamata Bannerjee split from the INC and founded her own Trinamool Congress (TMC) Party. In the 1998 and the 1999 national elections she joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is interesting to note that the BJP (founded in 1980) owes its roots to the Bharatiya Jana Sangha which was founded by the famous Bengali leader Dr. Shymaprasad Mukherjee (1901-1953).


The 2001 held national election witnessed the Left Front maintain its comfortable position in Bengal followed by the TMC, the INC and the BJP. In 1999 Calcutta's name was changed to Kolkata by the State legislature and from 1st January, 2001 it became its official name. In the statewide municipal elections held in 2000, the TMC won the prestigious Calcutta Corporation from the Left Front even though the Left Front retained control of the Salt Lake (Bidhan Nagar) Municipality. However, in the 2005 municipal elections, the Left Front returned with a resounding victory and Bikash Bhattacharya became the new mayor of the Kolkata, who continues to be so even in 2008.


The Left has held on to its phenomenal reign in West Bengal.