Left Front (West Bengal)

The Left Front is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was formed in January 1977 led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) with other founding parties being the All India Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Marxist Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India and the Biplobi Bangla Congress. Other parties joined in later years, most notably the Communist Party of India.

The Left Front ruled the state of West Bengal for 34 years in seven consecutive terms 1977–2011, five with Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister and two under Buddhadev Bhattacharya. The CPI(M) is the dominant force in the alliance. In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election the Left Front failed to gain a majority of seats and left office. As of 2016 Biman Bose is the Chairman of the West Bengal Left Front Committee.