West Bengal, Lok Sabha election 1998

42 constituencies in West Bengal, 77.96% turnout.

Seats

Candidates

272

22 women, 6 elected

Turnout

77.96%

3.65 cr of 4.68 cr

Leading party

CPM

24 of 42 seats

Party performance

Ordered by seats won in West Bengal

Party	Won	+/−	Contested	Votes	Share	Share +/−
CPM Communist Party of India (Marxist)	24	+1	32	1,29,31,639	35.41%	-1.29
WBTC WBTC	7	+7	29	89,20,583	24.43%	—
RSP Revolutionary Socialist Party	4	0	4	16,36,440	4.48%	-0.28
CPI Communist Party of India	3	0	3	13,28,205	3.64%	-0.17
FBL All India Forward Bloc	2	-1	3	12,04,927	3.30%	-0.12
INC Indian National Congress	1	-8	39	55,51,456	15.20%	-24.89
BJP Bharatiya Janata Party	1	+1	14	37,24,662	10.20%	+3.32
IND Independent	0	0	97	3,81,051	1.04%	-1.00
FBS FBS	0	0	1	2,72,974	0.75%	+0.28
JKPN JKPN	0	0	2	1,81,018	0.50%	+0.24
JMM Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	0	0	6	1,25,552	0.34%	-0.17
BSP Bahujan Samaj Party	0	0	14	88,195	0.24%	+0.13
MUL Indian Union Muslim League	0	0	3	52,155	0.14%	+0.07
RJD Rashtriya Janata Dal	0	0	3	46,156	0.13%	—
CPI(ML)(L)CPI(ML)(L)	0	0	4	31,294	0.09%	+0.01
AMB AMB	0	0	5	10,954	0.03%	-0.09
SJPR SJPR	0	0	2	8,273	0.02%	—
SWJP SWJP	0	0	1	6,699	0.02%	—
INL INL	0	0	1	6,364	0.02%	-0.01
LS LS	0	0	1	4,064	0.01%	—
SHS Shiv Sena	0	0	2	2,535	0.01%	-0.07
TRMRPPI TRMRPPI	0	0	1	2,503	0.01%	—
JKP JKP	0	0	1	1,702	0.00%	-0.01
AIICS AIICS	0	0	1	845	0.00%	—
AJBP AJBP	0	0	1	837	0.00%	—
RPI RPI	0	0	1	763	0.00%	—
SAP SAP	0	0	1	480	0.00%	-0.01

CPM24 (57%)
WBTC7 (17%)
RSP4 (10%)
CPI3 (7%)
FBL2 (5%)
INC1 (2%)
Others1 (2%)

CPM24
WBTC7
RSP4
CPI3
FBL2
INC1
Others1

CPM24
WBTC7
RSP4
CPI3
FBL2
INC1
BJP1

Constituency performance

From the 42 results in West Bengal

Closest contest

HOWRAH

won by 6,535 (0.65%)

Biggest victory

JHARGRAM

won by 2,87,188 (35.79%)

Highest turnout

TAMLUK

85.63%

Lowest turnout

DARJEELING

50.62%

Seat change

Against West Bengal's previous Lok Sabha election (1996), matched constituency-for-constituency

Retained32 (76%)
Changed hands10 (24%)

32 constituencies were won by the same party as last time; 10 changed hands.

India’s constituencies have not been redrawn since the 2008 delimitation, so this compares the same seat boundary both times.

Vote share & turnout trend

West Bengal, every Lok Sabha election on record

VOTE SHARE

CPM
WBTC
RSP
CPI

TURNOUT

Constituency results

All 42 seats, alphabetical · showing 1–42 of 42

Constituency	Winner	Runner-up	Margin	Turnout
ALIPURDUARS	RSPJOACHIM BAXLA	BJPDHIRENDRA NARJINARAI	1,95,59924.26%	78.8%
ARAMBAGH	CPMANIL BASU	BJPCHUNILAL CHAKRABORTY	1,87,30020.17%	83.2%
ASANSOL	CPMBIKASH CHOWDHURY	WBTCAJIT KUMAR GHAATAK (MOLOY GHAATAK)	26,1493.02%	69.6%
BALURGHAT	RSPRANEN BARMAN	WBTCNANI GOPAL ROY	1,72,17519.64%	80.5%
BANKURA	CPMACHARIA BASUDEB	BJPSUKUMAR BANERJEE	1,11,58314.92%	72.7%
BARASAT	WBTCDR RANJIT KUMAR PANJA	FBLCHITRA GHOSH	66,7076.30%	83.2%
BARRACKPORE	CPMTARIT BARAN TOPDAR	WBTCADHIKARY TARUN	27,9573.36%	81.2%
BASIRHAT	CPIAJAY CHAKRABORTY	WBTCDR SUDIPTO ROY	1,20,07613.79%	82.7%
BERHAMPORE	RSPPROMOTHES MUKHERJEE	BJPCOLONEL (RETD) SABYASACHI BAGCHI	1,23,36914.21%	73.0%
BIRBHUM	CPMDOME RAM CHANDRA	BJPDR MADAN LAL CHOUDHURY	1,61,51220.84%	75.4%
BOLPUR	CPMSOMNATH CHATTERJEE	WBTCGOUR HARI CHANDRA	2,51,09231.77%	77.3%
BURDWAN	CPMSAR NIKHILANANDA	BJPPROF (SMT) SANTI ROY	2,72,25327.69%	82.6%
CALCUTTA NORTH EAST	WBTCAJIT KUMAR PANJA	CPMPRASANTA CHATTERJEE	64,8729.85%	72.3%
CALCUTTA NORTH WEST	WBTCSUDIP BANDYOPADHYAY	CPMSARALA MAHESWARI	73,48315.90%	66.5%
CALCUTTA SOUTH	WBTCMAMATA BANERJEE	CPMPRASANTA SUR	2,24,08126.42%	72.0%
CONTAI	CPMSUDHIR GIRI	WBTCAKHIL GIRI	74,8589.08%	84.8%
COOCH BEHAR	FBLAMAR ROYPRADHAN	FBSGOBINDA ROY	1,23,16613.61%	82.5%
DARJEELING	CPMANANDA PATHAK	INCPRASANTA NANDY	1,22,55619.55%	50.6%
DIAMOND HARBOUR	CPMSAMIK LAHIRI	WBTCKAKOLI GHOSH DASTIDAR	60,9566.92%	78.5%
DUM DUM	BJPTAPAN SIKDAR	CPMNIRMAL KANTI CHATTERJEE	1,37,40511.03%	79.8%
DURGAPUR	CPMKHAN SUNIL	BJPRAY SURYYA	1,42,02915.71%	75.9%
HOOGHLY	CPMRUPCHAND PAL	WBTCTAPAN DASGUPTA	6,1160.66%	82.0%
HOWRAH	WBTCDR BIKRAM SARKAR	CPMSWADESH CHAKRABORTY	6,5350.65%	74.0%
JADAVPUR	WBTCKRISHNA BOSE	CPMMALINI BHATTACHARYA	78,2017.43%	76.3%
JALPAIGURI	CPMMINATI SEN	WBTCKALYAN CHAKRABORTY	1,74,97520.14%	80.0%
JANGIPUR	CPMABUL HASNAT KHAN	INCABU HASEM KHAN CHOWDHURY	72,5018.76%	77.3%
JHARGRAM	CPMMURMU RUPCHAND	WBTCSAMAY MANDI	2,87,18835.79%	82.6%
JOYNAGAR	RSPSANAT KUMAR MANDAL	BJPKRISHNAPADA MAJUMDAR	1,76,06120.98%	76.2%
KATWA	CPMZAHEDI MAHBOOB	WBTCSWAPAN DEBNATH	1,38,70714.58%	82.3%
KRISHNAGAR	CPMAJOY MUKHOPADHYAY	BJPSATYABRATA MOOKHERJEE	40,6724.59%	83.0%
MALDA	INCABUL BARKAT ATAUL GHANI KHAN CHOUDHURY	CPMJIBAN MAITRA	49,0825.90%	80.7%
MATHURAPUR	CPMRADHIKA RANJAN PRAMANIK	WBTCJAGARANJAN HALDAR	1,01,87612.04%	79.7%
MIDNAPORE	CPIINDRAJIT GUPTA	BJPDUTTA MANORANJAN	2,75,51932.10%	79.3%
MURSHIDABAD	CPMMOINUL HASSAN	INCANARUL HOSSAIN KHAN	1,90,46620.53%	80.4%
NABADWIP	CPMASIM BALA	WBTCDR RAMENDRANATH BISWAS	41,1543.82%	83.0%
PANSKURA	CPIGEETA MUKHERJEE	WBTCDR SAUMEN MAHAPATRA	1,79,54321.89%	84.8%
PURULIA	FBLBIR SINGH MAHAT0	INCNEPAL MAHATA	1,57,13721.41%	73.8%
RAIGANJ	CPMSUBRATA MUKHERJEE	INCPRIYA RANJAN DASMUNSI	6,2810.71%	78.3%
SERAMPORE	WBTCAKBOR ALI KHANDOKER	CPMSUDARSAN RAY CHAUDHURI	44,6114.54%	75.2%
TAMLUK	CPMLAKSHMAN CHANDRA SETH	WBTCNIRMALENDU BHATTACHERJEE	87,9529.44%	85.6%
ULUBERIA	CPMHANNAN MOLLAH	WBTCSARADINDU BISWAS	1,13,53013.35%	78.5%
VISHNUPUR	CPMSANDHYA BAURI	WBTCPURNIMA LOHAR	1,73,24120.51%	79.4%

Vote share and swing on this page are the party’s share of valid votes in West Bengal alone — a different number from its national or all-state figures, and never mixed with them.

Frequently asked

Straight answers to the questions this result page exists to answer.

Who won the West Bengal, Lok Sabha election 1998?

Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 24 of 42 seats in West Bengal, a clear majority.

What was the voter turnout in the West Bengal, Lok Sabha election 1998?

Turnout was 77.96% — 3.65 cr of 4.68 cr registered electors voted.

How many Lok Sabha seats does West Bengal have?

West Bengal has 42 Lok Sabha seats.