Bengal deadliest recorded cyclones. West Bengal became one of India's most populous states. Calcutta, the former capital of the British Raj, became the state capital of West Bengal and continued to be India's largest city until the late 20th century, when severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist-Naxalite movement damaged much of the state's infrastructure in the 1960s and 70s, leading to a period of economic stagnation. West Bengal politics underwent a major change when the Left Front won the 1977 assembly election, defeating the incumbent Indian National Congress. The Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Cities and towns in West Bengal is now reduced to 250 as Dhupguri and Dalkhola have been upgraded to municipality. Cities and towns in West Bengal West Bengal is the state with highest population density in India. The state is dotted with several small and medium towns and cities. Historically, the main source of income of the people of West Bengal has been farming, and, as a consequence, the state previously had a large rural population skew. At the turn of the 20th century, however, the role of industry in West Bengal increased substantially, leading to a population move into urban areas. In 1947, when India