West Bengal General (Lok Sabha) Elections 2024 Latest News & Live Updates

West Bengal is a state in eastern India, situated between the Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal. Its capital, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), has architectural and cultural vestiges from its past as an East India Company trading centre and British Raj capital.

West Bengal General Elections 2024

The 2024 Indian general election in West Bengal will be held in all 7 phases from 19 April to June 1 to elect 42 members of the 18th Lok Sabha, with the results declared on 4 June.

Election History

In West Bengal's 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Indian National Congress, among other regional and minor parties, competed intensely. The elections were complicated by increased political tension and violence in certain seats. Overall, the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal were historic, reflecting the shifting political dynamics of the state and their consequences for national politics.

Political Parties Competing in the 2024 Elections

• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is associated with right-wing politics and shares strong ideological and organisational ties with the volunteer paramilitary Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).Hindu nationalism, or Hindutva, is the philosophy that guides its policies. It is the largest political party in the nation as of January 2024, with the most representatives in both the state legislatures and the Indian Parliament. Under the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it has ruled India's political landscape since 2014.
• Indian National Congress (INC) : The Indian National Congress (INC), also known as the Congress Party or just the Congress, is a well-established political organisation throughout the majority of India's provinces. It was the first modern nationalist movement to arise in Asia and Africa under the British Empire, having been founded in 1885. From the late 19th century, and particularly after 1920, the Congress emerged as the main force behind the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi.
• The Communist Party of India (CPI) : In India, the oldest communist party is the Communist Party of India (CPI). On December 26, 1925, the CPI was established in what is now Kanpur.At the now, it has two representatives in the Rajya Sabha and two in the Lok Sabha. Along with one MLC in Bihar, it also has 22 MLAs spread across four states. In Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Manipur, it currently holds the ECI status of a state party.
• Communist Party of India (Marxist) : A communist political party in India is called the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M). As far as membership and electoral seats go, it is the biggest communist party in India and one of the country's national parties. After breaking away from the CPI in 1964, the party was established and soon took the lead.
• The All India Trinamool Congress : The All India Trinamool Congress is an Indian political party with a strong presence in the state of West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee created it on January 1, 1998, as a breakaway faction from the Indian National Congress, and it quickly rose to prominence in West Bengal politics under her leadership.
• Bahujan Samaj Party : Originally representing Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC) as well as religious minorities, the Bahujan Samaj Party is a political party in India. Kanshi Ram claims that the Bahujans made up 85 percent of India's population when he started the party in 1984, but they were split up into 6,000 distinct castes.
• All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen : The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen is an Indian political party located mostly in Hyderabad, but it is also active in Telangana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar.
• The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) : It is a communist party in India. Tridib Chaudhuri created the party on March 19, 1940, and its roots can be traced back to the Bengali independence movement Anushilan Samiti and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army.
• The All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) : The All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) is a left-wing nationalist political party in India. It began as a faction inside the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. Following India's independence, the party reestablished itself as an independent political party. Its primary stronghold is in West Bengal. The party's current Secretary-General is G. Devarajan. Veteran Indian politicians Sarat Chandra Bose (brother of Subhas Chandra Bose) and Chitta Basu were party stalwarts in independent India.
• The Indian Secular Front (ISF) : The Indian Secular Front (ISF) is an Indian political party founded in West Bengal by Abbas Siddiqui, an important priest at the Furfura Sharif shrine in Hooghly district.
• The Socialist Unity Centre of India : The Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), often known as SUCI(C), is an Indian Marxist-Leninist communist party that opposes revisionism. Shibdas Ghosh and Nihar Mukherjee, among others, launched the party in 1948.