https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Bangla_CongressBangla Congress - Revision history2026-07-31T01:03:49ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Bangla_Congress&diff=451525&oldid=prevJudyK9023223 at 18:06, 23 March 20262026-03-23T18:06:44Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Political party in West Bengal, India}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2024}}<br />
{{Infobox political party<br />
| name = Bangla Congress<br />
| abbreviation = BC<br />
| logo = <br />
| colorcode = {{Party color|Bangla Congress}}<br />
| leader = [[Ajoy Mukherjee]]<br />
| founder = [[Ajoy Mukherjee]]<br />
| foundation = {{Start date and age|df=yes|p=y|1966||}}<br />
| ideology = [[Bengali nationalism]]<br>[[Democratic socialism]]<br>[[Regionalism (politics)|Regionalism]]<br>[[Civic nationalism]]<br>[[Left-wing populism]]<br />
| headquarters = [[Calcutta]]<br />
| dissolved = {{Start date and age|df=yes|p=y|1971||}}<ref>[https://www.anandabazar.com/editorial/ajoy-mukherjee-former-chief-minister-of-west-bengal-sets-highest-standard-for-himself-1.985904 Ajoy Mukherjee, Former Chief Minister of West Bengal, set highest standard for himself] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703141315/https://www.anandabazar.com/editorial/ajoy-mukherjee-former-chief-minister-of-west-bengal-sets-highest-standard-for-himself-1.985904 |date=3 July 2022 }} {{in lang|bn}}. ''[[Anandabazar Patrika]]''.</ref><br />
| merged = [[Indian National Congress]]<br />
| successor = [[Biplobi Bangla Congress]] (factions)<br />
| split = [[Indian National Congress]]<br />
| position = [[Centre-left politics|Centre-left]] to [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]]<br />
| regional = [[United Front (West Bengal)|United Front]] (1967–1971)<br />
| slogan = "[[Joy Bangla (slogan)|Joy Bangla]]"{{citation needed|date=March 2026}}<br />
| colours = {{Colorsample|{{Party color|Bangla Congress}}}} [[Blue]]<br />
| native_name_lang = bn<br />
| country = India<br />
| seats2_title = [[Lok Sabha]]<br />
| seats2 = {{composition bar|5|42|{{party color|Bangla Congress}}}} ([[List of members of the 4th Lok Sabha#West Bengal|1967]])<br />
| seats1_title = [[Rajya Sabha]]<br />
| seats1 = {{composition bar|0|16|{{party color|Bangla Congress}}}} ([[List of Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal|1967]])<br />
| seats3_title = [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly]]<br />
| seats3 = {{composition bar|34|280|{{party color|Bangla Congress}}}} ([[1967 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election|1967]])<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Bangla Congress''' was a regional [[political party]] in the Indian state of [[West Bengal]]. It was formed through a split in the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1966 and later co-governed with the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] (CPI(M)) in two [[United Front (1967)|United Front]] governments, the first lasting from 15 March 1967 to 2 November 1967, the second from 25 February 1969 to 19 March 1970.<br />
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==History==<br />
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Mainly the Left Wing of the Bengal Congress, represented by [[Ajoy Mukherjee]], [[Pranab Mukherjee]], [[Siddhartha Shankar Ray]], [[A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury]], [[Abha Maiti]], [[Sushil Kumar Dhara]] revolted against the leadership of the old conservative elites of "the Syndicate" like [[Prafulla Chandra Sen]] and [[Atulya Ghosh]] in 1966 owing to the policies of the Prafulla Sen government during the Food Movement. [[Sushil Kumar Dhara]] was the state secretary of the newly formed Bangla Congress.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Basu |first=Sajal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQWBAAAAIAAJ |title=Politics of Violence: A Case Study of West Bengal |date=1982 |publisher=Minerva |isbn=978-0-8364-0779-2 |pages=99 |language=en}}</ref> <br />
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The revolt was mainly led by younger leaders of the Congress and enjoyed widespread support among the rural landowning and trading classes as well as the middle castes of rural Bengal, such as the [[Mahishya]]s, [[Aguri (caste)|Aguri]]s and the [[Sadgop]]s who looked upon an alliance with the Proletarian Left Front as useful against the dominance of the Calcutta-oriented Congress leadership which was seen to favour the Calcutta-based, [[Marwari people|Marwari]]-owned large private industries and British business interests too much.<br />
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The party had a strong base in [[Midnapore]], [[Hugli-Chinsura|Hooghly]], [[Nadia district|Nadia]], [[Murshidabad]] and all of [[North Bengal]] and a big plank was development of rural areas and small towns as opposed to the Calcutta-obsessed approach of the Congress-led West Bengal Government.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}<br />
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[[Ajoy Mukherjee]], a veteran Congress leader from [[Tamluk]], was the Chief Minister in both governments formed by the Coalition and till date, he remains the only Chief Minister of West Bengal not to reside in a Calcutta postal address. Other later Congress leaders like Priya Ranjan DasMunshi, Manas Bhunia and Somen Mitra also started their careers as lower rung student leaders of the Bangla Congress split. Sukumar Roy, a dissident leader of the party, aligned with CPI(M), and later formed a new political party - [[Biplobi Bangla Congress]].<ref name=":0" /><br />
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On 19 March 1970 the second United Front government fell as a result of the breakdown of the alliance between the Bangla Congress and the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]. Due to the Land Reform movement led by [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|Communist]] leaders [[Benoy Choudhury]] and [[Hare Krishna Konar]] which threatened the interests of the landowning Middle/backward castes that supported the Bangla Congress.{{fact|date=August 2024}}<br />
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The Bangla Congress then went into rapid decline and was later reunified with the [[Indian National Congress]].{{fact|date=August 2024}}<br />
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==Electoral results==<br />
<br />
;[[West Bengal]] state assembly<br />
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1967: 80 candidates, 34 elected, 1,286,028 votes<br />
<br />
1969: 49 candidates, 33 elected, 1,094,654 votes<br />
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1971: 137 candidates, 5 elected, 695,376 votes<br />
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;Lok Sabha election<br />
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1967: 7 candidates, 5 elected, 1,204,356 votes<br />
<br />
1971: 14 candidates, 1 elected, 518,781 votes<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Indian National Congress breakaway parties]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=UOQRWuMXyRMC&dq=bangla+congress&pg=PA105 Split in a Predominant Party: The Indian National Congress in 1969]<br />
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<br />
[[Category:Defunct political parties in West Bengal]]<br />
[[Category:Indian National Congress breakaway groups]]<br />
[[Category:Political parties established in 1966]]<br />
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1971]]<br />
[[Category:1966 establishments in West Bengal]]<br />
[[Category:1971 disestablishments in India]]</div>JudyK9023223