West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 1982

Legislative Assembly elections were held in the Indian state of West Bengal in 1982. The Left Front, which had won the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 1977, emerged victorious. The Indian National Congress(I) emerged as the main opposition party in the state, as the Janata Party was disintegrating.

On 6 January 1982 the West Bengal government requested that assembly elections be held on 15 March 1982, due to the approaching Monsoon season starting in April. However, in the end the election was held in May 1982, parallel to state assembly elections in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.

Ahead of the 1982 assembly elections, the Left Front had gained three new members; the Communist Party of India (CPI), the West Bengal Socialist Party (WBSP) and the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP). Some of the older, smaller Left Front constituents were uncomfortable with the expansion of the alliance, claiming that CPI(M) was diluting it politically. There were also disagreements on distribution of ministerial portfolios after the expansion of the alliance.

As of the early 1980s the Congress(I) was heavily divided in West Bengal. Divisions existed in each of the appointed ad hoc district committees across the state.

In 1978 Sharad Pawar named former West Bengal Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi as president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (Socialist). However Congress(I) and Congress(S) contested the 1982 in alliance. The IC(S) performed poorly in the 1982 assembly elections and a merger of the West Bengal units of the (S) and Congress(I) took place soon after the 1982 polls.

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