1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election



The  West Bengal state assembly election of 1957 was part of a series of state assembly elections in 1957.

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.

Alliances
On the political left two alliances had emerged; the United Left Election Committee (an alliance between CPI, PSP, AIFB, MFB and RSP) and the United Left Front (comprising the SUCI(C), the BPI, the RPI and the Democratic Vanguard). A third alliance was the United Democratic People's Front, consisting of BJS, Hindu Mahasabha and RCPI.

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.

 !colspan=10| ! Party ! No. of candidates ! No. of elected ! No. of votes ! %
 * Indian National Congress
 * 251
 * 152
 * 4,830,992
 * 46.14%
 * Communist Party of India
 * 103
 * 46
 * 1,865,106
 * 17.81%
 * Praja Socialist Party
 * 67
 * 21
 * 1,031,392
 * 9.85%
 * Forward Bloc
 * 26
 * 8
 * 425,318
 * 4.06%
 * Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha
 * 37
 * 25
 * 225,126
 * 2.15%
 * Bharatiya Jana Sangh
 * 33
 * 0
 * 102,477
 * 0.98%
 * Independents
 * 418
 * 22
 * 1,989,392
 * 19.00%
 * Total:
 * 935
 * 252
 * 10,469,803
 * }
 * 1,989,392
 * 19.00%
 * Total:
 * 935
 * 252
 * 10,469,803
 * }
 * }
 * }