1987 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election

The governing Left Front denied tickets to 62 sitting legislators.[1] In many cases CPI(M), the dominant force in the Left Front, was seeking to rejuvenate the legislature and fielded 35 student leaders as new candidates.[1]

The star campaigner of the Left Front was Chief Minister Jyoti Basu of CPI(M), who had pledged to visit all constituencies where CPI(M) had fielded candidates.[1] During the campaign Basu claimed that the Delhi government discriminated against West Bengal in allocation of resources.[1]

'Natun Bangla' ('New Bengal') was the key slogan of the Congress(I) campaign.[1] The star campaigner of Congress(I) was Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was flown in from Delhi and toured the state.[1][2] At the time Gandhi enjoyed significant popularity, especially amongst urban upper-middle class sectors.[2] Gandhi was accompanied by West Bengal Congress(I) chief Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi on the campaign trail.[1] Striking a populist tone, Gandhi promised development in West Bengal and to create a million new jobs.[1]

The Congress(I) campaign, whilst being boosted by Gandhi, suffered from internal dissent in party ranks.[1] Congress(I) heavy-weights Subrata Mukherjee and Soumen Mitra led a revolt against the party leadership.[1] And Pranab Mukherjee had floated his Rashtriya Samajbadi Congress, breaking away from Congress(I).[1]