The 1971 Lok Sabha (Parliament) election in West Bengal was held to elect Members of Parliament (MPs) from 40 parliamentary constituencies in the state. Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) emerged as the leading party, winning 20 seats. Indian National Congress came second with 13 seats.
A total of 22,068,325 electors were registered to vote across the state. Of these, 13,667,300 votes were polled, resulting in an overall voter turnout of 61.9%. The average victory margin across all constituencies was 39,525 votes, with the closest contest decided by just 1,322 votes and the largest margin reaching 90,912 votes.
A total of 7 political parties won at least one seat in this election. India's Lok Sabha elections use the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system, where the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins the seat. The party or coalition winning a majority of Lok Sabha seats forms the central government and appoints the Prime Minister.
Seat data is not available for this selection.
Seat breakdown: Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) (20), Indian National Congress (13), Communist Party Of India (3), Revolutionary Socialist Party (1), Independent (1) and 2 other parties.
Click on any constituency name to view the full candidate-wise breakdown with individual vote counts, vote share percentages, and party affiliations.
| Sno. | Constituency | Type | State | Winner | Party | Electors | Votes | Turnout | Margin | Margin% | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 489-Cooch Behar | SC | West Bengal | Benoy Krishna Daschowdhury | Indian National Congress | 565683 | 359788 | 63.60% | 70604 | 19.60% | 1971 |
| 2 | 491-Jalpaiguri | ST | West Bengal | Tuna Oraon | Indian National Congress | 488587 | 306173 | 62.70% | 52967 | 17.30% | 1971 |
| 3 | 492-Darjeeling | GEN | West Bengal | Ratanlall Brahman | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 502303 | 268931 | 53.50% | 12277 | 4.60% | 1971 |
| 4 | 493-Raiganj | GEN | West Bengal | Sidhartha Sankar Ray | Indian National Congress | 568200 | 311567 | 54.80% | 64007 | 20.50% | 1971 |
| 5 | 494-Balurghat | SC | West Bengal | Rasendra Nath Barman | Indian National Congress | 496362 | 349541 | 70.40% | 85278 | 24.40% | 1971 |
| 6 | 497-Jangipur | GEN | West Bengal | Lutfal Haque | Indian National Congress | 556704 | 317319 | 57.00% | 49356 | 15.60% | 1971 |
| 7 | 498-Baharampur | GEN | West Bengal | Tridib Choudhuri | Revolutionary Socialist Party | 538838 | 312302 | 58.00% | 10757 | 3.40% | 1971 |
| 8 | 499-Murshidabad | GEN | West Bengal | Chowdhury Abu Taleb | Independent | 498691 | 287999 | 57.80% | 20382 | 7.10% | 1971 |
| 9 | 500-Krishnanagar | GEN | West Bengal | Renupada Das | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 503387 | 312342 | 62.10% | 33631 | 10.80% | 1971 |
| 10 | 503-Barrackpur | GEN | West Bengal | Md. Ismail | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 760565 | 522103 | 68.70% | 83775 | 16.00% | 1971 |
| 11 | 505-Barasat | GEN | West Bengal | Ranendra Nath Sen | Communist Party Of India | 545889 | 349894 | 64.10% | 9239 | 2.60% | 1971 |
| 12 | 506-Basirhat | GEN | West Bengal | A. K. M. Ishaque | Indian National Congress | 537387 | 323367 | 60.20% | 54910 | 17.00% | 1971 |
| 13 | 507-Jaynagar | SC | West Bengal | Sakti Kumar Sarkar | Indian National Congress | 561119 | 393696 | 70.20% | 74236 | 18.90% | 1971 |
| 14 | 508-Mathurapur | SC | West Bengal | Madhurjya Haldar | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 577659 | 431325 | 74.70% | 1585 | 0.40% | 1971 |
| 15 | 509-Diamond Harbour | GEN | West Bengal | Jyotirmoy Basu | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 569286 | 396845 | 69.70% | 73336 | 18.50% | 1971 |
| 16 | 511-Kolkata Dakshin | GEN | West Bengal | Priya Ranjandas Munsi | Indian National Congress | 501831 | 296088 | 59.00% | 22039 | 7.40% | 1971 |
| 17 | 513-Howrah | GEN | West Bengal | Samar Mukherjee | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 599034 | 330787 | 55.20% | 25042 | 7.60% | 1971 |
| 18 | 514-Uluberia | GEN | West Bengal | Shyamaprasanna Bhattacharyya | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 552167 | 396925 | 71.90% | 52720 | 13.30% | 1971 |
| 19 | 515-Srerampur | GEN | West Bengal | Dinendra Nath Bhattacharyya | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 551119 | 360050 | 65.30% | 62458 | 17.30% | 1971 |
| 20 | 516-Hooghly | GEN | West Bengal | Bijoy Krishna Modak | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 630767 | 441659 | 70.00% | 31471 | 7.10% | 1971 |
| 21 | 517-Arambagh | GEN | West Bengal | Manoranjan Hazra | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 523073 | 354073 | 67.70% | 22220 | 6.30% | 1971 |
| 22 | 518-Tamluk | GEN | West Bengal | Satis Chandra Samanta | Bangla Congress | 552570 | 408393 | 73.90% | 7271 | 1.80% | 1971 |
| 23 | 520-Ghatal | GEN | West Bengal | Jagadish Bhattacharyya | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 509019 | 372171 | 73.10% | 1322 | 0.40% | 1971 |
| 24 | 521-Jhargram | ST | West Bengal | Amiya Kumar Kisku | Indian National Congress | 528392 | 359606 | 68.10% | 14693 | 4.10% | 1971 |
| 25 | 522-Medinipur | GEN | West Bengal | Samar Guha | Praja Socialist Party | 534463 | 360838 | 67.50% | 70359 | 19.50% | 1971 |
| 26 | 523-Purulia | GEN | West Bengal | Debendra Nath Mahata | Indian National Congress | 539571 | 263046 | 48.80% | 76043 | 28.90% | 1971 |
| 27 | 524-Bankura | GEN | West Bengal | Sankar Narayan Singh Deo | Indian National Congress | 545829 | 262110 | 48.00% | 25498 | 9.70% | 1971 |
| 28 | 525-Bishnupur | SC | West Bengal | Ajit Kumar Saha | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 535867 | 316885 | 59.10% | 2460 | 0.80% | 1971 |
| 29 | 528-Asansol | GEN | West Bengal | Robin Sen | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 542914 | 280338 | 51.60% | 33660 | 12.00% | 1971 |
| 30 | 529-Bolpur | GEN | West Bengal | Saradish Roy | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 513097 | 270782 | 52.80% | 36625 | 13.50% | 1971 |
| 31 | 530-Birbhum | SC | West Bengal | Gadadhar Saha | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 491845 | 215720 | 43.90% | 8385 | 3.90% | 1971 |
| 32 | 624-Burdwan | GEN | West Bengal | Somnath Chatterjee | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 577512 | 372040 | 64.40% | 64080 | 17.20% | 1971 |
| 33 | 625-Calcutta North East | GEN | West Bengal | Hiren Mukherjee | Communist Party Of India | 538997 | 292503 | 54.30% | 2291 | 0.80% | 1971 |
| 34 | 626-Calcutta North West | GEN | West Bengal | Asoke Kumar Sen | Indian National Congress | 629041 | 257684 | 41.00% | 73279 | 28.40% | 1971 |
| 35 | 628-Katwa | GEN | West Bengal | Saroj Mukherjee | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 530377 | 382733 | 72.20% | 68487 | 17.90% | 1971 |
| 36 | 629-Malda | GEN | West Bengal | Dinesh Chandrajoarder | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 492836 | 340623 | 69.10% | 33766 | 9.90% | 1971 |
| 37 | 630-Nabadwip | SC | West Bengal | Bibha Ghosh | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 576005 | 391659 | 68.00% | 10600 | 2.70% | 1971 |
| 38 | 646-Alipore | GEN | West Bengal | Indrajit Gupta | Communist Party Of India | 642566 | 368717 | 57.40% | 26958 | 7.30% | 1971 |
| 39 | 648-Ausgram | SC | West Bengal | Halder Krishna Chandra | Communist Party Of India (MARXIST) | 629094 | 363981 | 57.90% | 90912 | 25.00% | 1971 |
| 40 | 708-Midnapur | GEN | West Bengal | Subodh Chandra Hansda | Indian National Congress | 529679 | 364697 | 68.90% | 22009 | 6.00% | 1971 |
Data-driven analysis of the 1971 West Bengal Lok Sabha election results, covering competitiveness, candidate performance, and voter behaviour.
The victory margin is the difference in votes between the winning candidate and the runner-up. A constituency with a margin under 5,000 votes is considered closely fought. The average margin in West Bengal 1971 was 39,525 votes.
The 10 parliamentary constituencies decided by the narrowest margins.
| Constituency | Winner | Party | Margin |
|---|
Candidates receiving less than one-sixth (16.67%) of valid votes forfeit their security deposit. A high forfeiture rate indicates a party fielded candidates in constituencies with little voter support.
NOTA (None of the Above) allows voters to reject all candidates. When NOTA votes exceed the victory margin, it signals significant voter dissatisfaction.
| Constituency | NOTA Votes | Win Margin | NOTA > Margin? |
|---|
The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house of India's Parliament. Members of Parliament (MPs) are directly elected by voters in their respective parliamentary constituencies through universal adult suffrage.
West Bengal is divided into 40 parliamentary constituencies. The constituencies are categorized as: GEN (30 seats), SC (8 seats), ST (2 seats). SC and ST reserved constituencies ensure representation for historically marginalized communities.
India follows the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes wins the seat. Elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).