The Year 2000

This by election to the Panskura Parliamentary Constituency in the Eastern Indian state of West Bengal in 2000 was a defining moment in the state's history when 33 years of then uninterrupted rule by the Left Front led by the CPI(M) was challenged by newly formed Trinamool Congress a breakaway from Congress. The CPI (M)'s supremacy over the voters of rural Bengal was challenged by Trinamool Congress and its firebrand chief Mamata Banerjee (elected Chief Minister of Bengal in 2011). The election that was marred by political violence was an important landmark in Ms Banerjee's political when she successfully challenged CPI (M)'s supremacy. No by election to a Parliament seat in the recent political history of India received such coverage by national media.