Legislative Assembly election was held in 2016 for the 294 seats (out of 295 seats) of the Vidhan Sabha (Vidhān Sabhā) in the state of West Bengal in India. The All India Trinamool Congress under Mamata Banerjee won 211 seats, and thus was reelected with an enhanced majority. Like in the 2011 election, the poll was held in six phases, with the first phase divided into two days. The first phase was held in Naxalite-Maoist affected Red corridor areas with two polling dates: 4 April and 11 April. The other phases were held on 17, 21, 25, 30 April and 5 May. The result of the election was declared on 19 May.
In the previous election in 2011, the All India Trinamool Congress in a coalition with INC won a majority and ended the 34-year rule of the Left Front government.
Background
In the previous assembly election in 2011, the All India Trinamool Congress, under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, won a majority and ended the 34-year rule of the Left Front government. During 2011 election, the main theme of TMC was paribartan (meaning "change"), implying it was time to change the Left Front reign of 34-years in the state. However, during the five year rule of TMC, urban population, in particular, were in general unhappy with the changes made by the government. Also, newspapers reported that chief minister Banerjee has been only trying to consolidate votes from the sizable Muslim minority.
In January 2016, the Election Commission of India urged the central government to allow it to carry out a limited delimitation exercise in West Bengal to ensure voting rights to people who came to India following the exchange of enclaves between India and Bangladesh. As per updated voter list for the year 2016 published by the Election Commission of India in January 2016, West Bengal has surpassed the rest of the country in elector-population ratio with 0.68. The final electoral roll in West Bengal for 2016 with 6.55 crore voters has 3.39 crore male and 3.16 crore female voters.
Major issues
Prior to the West Bengal elections, on 3 January 2016, a mob turned violent and vandalised Kaliachak Police station, block development office and public property in Kaliachak, Malda district. Mamata Banerjee's government was severely criticised for not handling the situation better.
The Saradha Group financial scandal, the Narada Sting operation (which showcased the ministers of the ruling party of accepting bribes), lack of any major industrial investments, and law & order issue surfaced as major issues and proved to be an acid test for Trinamool Congress. The Kolkata flyover collapse also happened during the poll process.
Schedule
Assembly elections in West Bengal are to be held in phases from 4 April to 5 May 2016.
Election dates by constituency
On 4 March 2016, Election Commission of India announced that 22 assembly constituencies in West Bengal would have Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines attached along with EVMs. Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines were to be in place in more than 5,993 polling stations.
Candidates and Contesting Parties
Candidates
AITC released its candidate list on 5 March, the same day the elections were announced.
On 10 March, BJP released its first candidate list of 52 members.
Left Front consisting of CPI(M), CPI, RSP and All India Forward Bloc along with INC (Congress) (who were on an Electoral agreement with the Left Front) released their respective candidate list in several rounds after consultations and bargaining.
Contesting Parties
Trinamool Congress+
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Jana Andolan Party
Mahajot (Left Front + United Progressive Alliance) Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) Communist Party of India (CPI) Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI) Marxist Forward Bloc (MFB) Democratic Socialist Party (DSP(PC)) Indian National Congress (INC) Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Communist Party of Bharat (CPB) Bharat Nirman Party (Led by Lakshman Chandra Seth) Save Democracy Forum Independent Candidate
National Democratic Alliance
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM)