State / UT
West Bengal
West Bengal is an eastern state of the Indian Union, constituted on 15 August 1947 when the province of Bengal was partitioned and its Hindu-majority western districts remained in India. It is the country's fourth-most-populous state, with 91.3 million people at the 2011 Census, and returns 42 members to the Lok Sabha and 16 to the Rajya Sabha — one of the largest state blocs in Parliament. Its legislature is the unicameral 294-seat Legislative Assembly at Kolkata; the Legislative Council was abolished by an Act of Parliament in 1969 and has never been revived. Structurally, the state is defined by its border: it carries 2,217 km of the 4,096 km India–Bangladesh boundary, more than half the total, which makes state administration inseparable from Union subjects of immigration, border management and citizenship.
Updated
- Capital
- Kolkata
- Formed
- 15 August 1947, on the partition of Bengal
- Legislature
- Unicameral — Legislative Assembly, 294 seats; Legislative Council abolished 1 August 1969
- Lok Sabha seats
- 42
- Rajya Sabha seats
- 16
- Population (2011 Census)
- 91.3 million — fourth-most-populous state
- Area
- 88,752 sq km
- Districts
- 23, in 5 divisions
- GSDP (2025-26 BE)
- Rs 20,31,805 crore
- India–Bangladesh border
- 2,217 km of 4,096 km — the largest state share
Role
West Bengal is one of the heavier actors in the Indian federation, and its weight is parliamentary before it is economic. Its 42 Lok Sabha seats are the third-largest state contingent, and its 16 Rajya Sabha seats give it standing in the upper house that no negotiation over eastern India can route around. It governs 91.3 million people (2011 Census) across 88,752 sq km and 23 districts, from the state secretariat at Kolkata. Its economy was the sixth-largest among Indian states in 2023-24, and the 2025-26 budget projected GSDP at Rs 20,31,805 crore against expenditure of Rs 3,41,462 crore excluding debt repayment, with a fiscal deficit target of 3.6% of GSDP and a revenue deficit of 1.7% — a state that runs a revenue gap and services a substantial debt stock while carrying a population larger than most countries. Its legislature is unusual among the large states: a single 294-seat chamber, the Legislative Council having been abolished by Parliament in 1969 and never revived, so that state law passes through one house with no revising chamber.
What distinguishes West Bengal structurally is the border. The state carries 2,217 km of the 4,096 km India–Bangladesh boundary — more than half the total — which means that questions the Constitution assigns to the Union, immigration, border management, citizenship and enclave settlement, land on the state’s police, revenue and district administration as daily operational matters. The 100th Amendment of 2015 was ratified by Parliament, but the enclaves it exchanged were overwhelmingly West Bengal’s, and their absorption fell to the state. This produces a persistent seam in Centre–state relations: the state administers consequences it does not legislate. A second seam runs north, where the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration holds administrative, executive and financial powers over the Darjeeling hills and Kalimpong but no legislative powers — a statutory settlement that devolves administration while leaving the underlying statehood demand open. A third is nomenclature itself: the Assembly resolved in 2016 to rename the state and the Union declined, an unusually plain illustration that even a state’s name is held at the Centre’s assent. The May 2026 election returned a change of governing party after fifteen years, placing the state government and the Union government in the same political alignment for the first time in that period; the institutional seams above are properties of the state’s position in the Republic and are not resolved by that alignment.
Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.
Timeline since 1947
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West Bengal constituted on the partition of Bengal
The Bengal Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council voted to partition the province along religious lines. The Hindu-majority western districts became the Indian state of West Bengal; East Bengal went to Pakistan. The state's borders, refugee burden and demographic composition all descend from this single act.
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Cooch Behar accedes and is absorbed into the state
The last ruler of the princely state of Cooch Behar signed the instrument of accession to the Indian Union on 1 January 1950. The princely structure was replaced by Cooch Behar district within West Bengal, extending the state's northern frontier tract.
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Chandernagore, a former French enclave, incorporated
Chandernagore, previously an enclave of French India on the Hooghly, was incorporated into West Bengal, closing out colonial-era territorial fragmentation within the state.
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States Reorganisation Act enlarges the state
West Bengal was enlarged by the addition of Purulia district, transferred from Manbhum district in Bihar, along with Islampur from Purnea district. This was the last major redrawing of the state's boundary with a neighbouring Indian state.
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Legislative Council abolished — the legislature becomes unicameral
Parliament passed the West Bengal Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1969, abolishing the upper house with effect from 1 August 1969. The state has legislated through a single 294-seat chamber ever since; no Council has been reconstituted.
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Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act passed by the Assembly
The Assembly passed the GTA Bill on 2 September 2011; it received Presidential assent on 7 March 2012. The GTA replaced the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council of 1988 as a semi-autonomous council covering the Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mirik subdivisions, part of Siliguri subdivision and all of Kalimpong district — roughly 2,250 sq km. It holds administrative, executive and financial powers but no legislative powers, leaving the statehood question unresolved.
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100th Constitutional Amendment ratifies the Land Boundary Agreement
Parliament passed the 100th Amendment, giving effect to the India–Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement. It exchanged 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh (69.4 sq km) for 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in India (28.8 sq km), with residents free to remain or move. West Bengal held the majority of the fragmented territory and was the state most affected.
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Assembly resolution to rename the state is rejected by the Union
The Assembly resolved to rename the state 'Bengal' in English and 'Bangla' in Bengali, following an earlier 2011 proposal for 'Paschim Banga'. The Congress, Left Front and BJP opposed the resolution. The Union government declined it, holding that a state should carry a single name across languages and that 'Bangla' risked confusion with Bangladesh. The state retains its 1947 name — a standing instance of a state's nomenclature resting on Union assent.
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18th Assembly returned; governing party changes after 15 years
Polling for the 294-seat Assembly was held in two phases on 23 and 29 April 2026, with results declared on 4 May 2026 and a repoll in one seat on 21 May. The BJP won 208 seats on 45.92% of the vote and the AITC 80 seats on 40.68%; the Left Front and allies took 6. The result ended a 15-year incumbency and produced the first BJP-led government in the state. The seat–vote gap — a 5.24-point vote margin converting to a 128-seat margin — is characteristic of first-past-the-post in a bipolar contest.
Frequently asked
- What is West Bengal?
- West Bengal is an eastern state of the Indian Union, constituted on 15 August 1947 when the province of Bengal was partitioned and its Hindu-majority western districts remained in India. It is the country's fourth-most-populous state, with 91.3 million people at the 2011 Census, and returns 42 members to the Lok Sabha and 16 to the Rajya Sabha — one of the largest state blocs in Parliament. Its legislature is the unicameral 294-seat Legislative Assembly at Kolkata; the Legislative Council was abolished by an Act of Parliament in 1969 and has never been revived. Structurally, the state is defined by its border: it carries 2,217 km of the 4,096 km India–Bangladesh boundary, more than half the total, which makes state administration inseparable from Union subjects of immigration, border management and citizenship.
- When was West Bengal established?
- West Bengal was established 1947-08-15.
- What does West Bengal do?
- Its remit covers State List functions: law and order and the state police, land and land revenue, agriculture, public health, school education and local government, Administration of 23 districts across 5 divisions from the state secretariat at Kolkata, A unicameral legislature — the 294-seat Legislative Assembly — with no second chamber since 1969, The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, a statutory semi-autonomous council for the Darjeeling hills and Kalimpong holding administrative, executive and financial but no legislative powers, Frontier administration along 2,217 km of the India–Bangladesh border, where state policing intersects with Union border and citizenship jurisdiction.
- What is the latest on West Bengal?
- As of 2026-07-17: 18th Assembly returned; governing party changes after 15 years. Polling for the 294-seat Assembly was held in two phases on 23 and 29 April 2026, with results declared on 4 May 2026 and a repoll in one seat on 21 May. The BJP won 208 seats on 45.92% of the vote and the AITC 80 seats on 40.68%; the Left Front and allies took 6. The result ended a 15-year incumbency and produced the first BJP-led government in the state. The seat–vote gap — a 5.24-point vote margin converting to a 128-seat margin — is characteristic of first-past-the-post in a bipolar contest.
Official sources
The government's own pages for this institution — go straight to the primary.
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State government gateway: departments, schemes, e-services, tenders.
wb.gov.in/
- West Bengal Legislative Assembly legislation
The 294-seat unicameral house at Kolkata; members, business and proceedings.
assembly.wb.gov.in/
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Electoral rolls, assembly and bye-election notifications, candidate affidavits, EROs and BLOs.
ceowestbengal.wb.gov.in/
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Independent analysis of GSDP, expenditure, fiscal and revenue deficit.
prsindia.org/budgets/states/west-bengal-budget-analysis-2025