29 years in Bengal & going strong
1982
The Left Front reclaimed power five years later, in May 1982.
Jyoti Basu, the England-educated lawyer and alumnus of Kolkata's famous Presidency College, was re-elected chief minister.
The CPI-M-led Left Front won 174 seats but Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, now the state's chief minister, lost the election from Kashipur.
Also See: In elephant and Maoist country