By Subir Bhaumik BBC correspondent in Calcutta

The Indian state of West Bengal has completed a quarter century of communist rule, amidst pressure to adjust to the forces of globalisation.

The communists say in that time they have managed to control poverty and implement land reforms better than any other state.

The communists continue to win elections on the strength of rural support

But state Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya says he is not complacent and that Bengal could be made very attractive to investors, both Indian and foreign.

West Bengal was easily one of India's most troubled states in the 1970s.

A fierce Maoist uprising led to thousands of deaths in street battles and secret assassinations as leftist radicals and Congress Party vigilantes fought it out.

The police were regularly accused of excesses.

The party has consistently attracted wide support

When the Left coalition led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) assumed power on this day 25 years ago, they were desperate to survive as a force.

But the coalition soon found its feet and the opposition dissipated its energies in factional squabbles.

The coalition went about implementing a radical programme of land reforms and devolution of power to the countryside, something no other Indian state government has been able to match.

Twenty-five years later, they continue to win elections on the strength of their rural support.

Rural transformation

West Bengal leads other Indian states in implanting land reform policy, which aims to redistribute land equitably.

Analysts say the chief minister knows better than anyone that reviving the state's ailing industries is the key to the stability of Left rule

According to a World Bank report, rural poverty has come down by half from 53% to 26% and agricultural production nearly doubled.

The law and order situation is also better than that of neighbouring states such as Assam and Bihar - and the ultra-left radicals have been effectively marginalised.

But Chief Minister Bhattacharya says the state has fallen behind others in terms of industrialisation, and also in education and health care - areas in which it was far ahead of the rest of India.

Looking ahead

As his party celebrated on Friday, Mr Bhattacharya called for greater effort to place West Bengal among India's leading industrialised states with an emphasis on information technology and bio-technology.

The chief minister also said that farm productivity should be improved by bringing down costs, something which is crucial in a post-WTO scenario.

Fellow leaders in the Left coalition have strongly opposed moves to introduce contract farming by multinationals seeking to invest in food processing industries.

And Mr Bhattacharya's efforts to control Bengal's troublesome trade unions have not yet been successful.

But analysts say that, more than anyone else, the chief minister knows that reviving the state's ailing industries and getting investors to set up new ones is the key to the stability of Left rule.