While they virtually neglected most part of Bengal. Have you been to Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar recently, it looks like it's still in the 90s.
totally agree with this...I grew up in the small town of Bankura.My family no longer lives there.Recently I had gone their,just to freshen up old memories.The town looks worse than before.Infrastructure has degraded,population has increased many times due to influx of people from the nearby villages in search of job.The only latest development is the steady growth of naxals. There is police everywhere in the town and regular patrols.Kids can no longer go to the 'police-line grounds' to play in the after noon.
Development has mostly been Kolkata-centric.The CPIM government ensured that the general population remains poor and cutoff from the rest of the World.It easier from them to control the masses that way.
the state was once quite prosperous.The districts of Burdwan,Birbhum,Midnapore,Howrah are fertile and good in agriculture.During the time of Bidhan Chandra Roy as Chief Minister of West Bengal,industrial belts like Kalyani,Durgapur,Haldia were created.Salt-lake was created by virtually filling up the wetlands.Kolkata too had a sound industrial base.
But situation changed drastically after the CPIM came to power.They were,well kind of 'more communist than the actual communists' and hence more despotic.They believed in taking control of everything,education,healthcare,industry,virtually everything was totally under government control,and nobody can do anything without 'party favour'.So,in order to lead a hassle-free life,one has to be aligned to the party.
I cannot really say that private entrepreneurs/industrialists were much encouraged during the initial years of communist rule.They were viewed as a part of the capitalist society.While Kolkata flourished,the remaining areas remained just as they were.One of the root cause of Naxal insurgency is this ambiguity of the government towards a uniform development.
Its funny and at the same time painful to see the Communists,who are supposed to fight for the rights of the common working class,turn to become the bourgeois themselves.34 years of single party rule,nobody to challenge,nobody to point a finger,what else can happen??
Perhaps the hardest hit was the educational system.They probably took a page out of Stalin's book.In order to control the masses,you control what they read and what they are taught,how they are educated.It is these very people,who opposed when ABN-AMRO bank started installing computers in their branches,saying it will result in the loss of jobs.How about increasing productivity to create some more avenues for jobs?It sounds really funny in the present context.
It was not until the late nineties,that the government realized its folly.But by that time,a lot of damage was already done.Investors no longer wanted to invest.Those who were already here,did not want to expand.Where will they expand?Where are the cities,infrastructure??
Lately,the CPIM government tried to do some good work,but the efforts were simply nothing considering what had to be done.The goodwill was already lost.
A change was very much necessary,even if that is in the form of Mamta Banerjee.Now lets see,what future has in store for West Bengal.
With almost close to double the population of West Bengal and double the land mass of West Bengal, airports doesn't seem like the forte of Bangladesh, and definitely nothing to boast about. The communists stunted the growth in West Bengal, hopefully things will be on the mend with the new government in. 
