1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election

Left Front The governing Left Front denied tickets to 62 sitting legislators. At the time Gandhi enjoyed significant popularity, especially amongst urban upper-middle class sectors. who saw not Rajiv but himself as the bonafide successor of Indira Gandhi's political legacy. Feeling sidelined by Rajiv, who dropped him from the Union Cabinet after the 1984 general elections, Mukherjee broke away from the Congress (Indira) in 1986 to found his own party, the Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress. In protest of Mukherjee's exit, his supporters within the Congress(I), notably Subrata Mukherjee & Somen Mitra refused to co-operate with the top leadership. ==Gorkhaland issue==

Whilst an accord had been struck between Gandhi and Gorkha National Liberation Front leader Subhash Ghisingh ahead of the polls, violence escalated in the Darjeeling hills. In the run-up to the polls, several policemen were killed in the area. == Seat Allotment ==

The Left Front won 251 out of 294 seats. It obtained 13,918,403 votes (52.96% of the statewide vote). It was the last time till date that the Indian National Congress contested without being in any alliance in West Bengal's state elections. ==Elected members==