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)
1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election between the Communist Party of India, the Praja Socialist Party, the Forward Bloc, Marxist Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party) and the United Left Front (comprising the Socialist Unity Centre of India, the Bolshevik Party of India, the Republican Party and the Democratic Vanguard). A third alliance was the United Democratic People's Front, consisting of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Hindu Mahasabha and the Revolutionary Communist Party of India. The election was won by the Indian National Congress, who got a majority of its own in the assembly. The communists became the largest opposition party. 1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election