29 years in Bengal & going strong
2001
In the 2001 election, the Left Front won 199 seats. The CPI-M won 143. This was the first election that the Left Front fought without Jyoti Basu, who had resigned a year earlier.
Mamata Banerjee, leader of the Trinamul Congress party, resigned accepting responsibility for the defeat.
In 1997, Banerjee had left the Congress to form the Trinamul which became the main opposition to the Left Front. The Trinamul and Congress coalition were defeated. So disappointed was Banerjee that she did not leave her home the day the results were announced.
Also See: Kolkata's 10 most important constituencies