After reigning supreme in West Bengal for thirty-four years, how did the Communist Party of India (Marxist) end up on the fringes of the political arena? In Gangster State, political journalist Sourjya Bhowmick chronicles the decline of the CPI(M) in Bengal through a compulsive work of creative non-fiction. Allured by the unrestricted power of the party, Presidency College student Rajat Lahiri joins its student wing, the Students Federation of India, and trains to become one of its foot soldiers. Soon achieving full-fledged membership, he does not hesitate in getting his hands dirty for a regime inherited by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya from an ailing Jyoti Basu, and marred by corruption and violence. This change in leadership, prompted by the arrival of a strong contender in Mamata Banerjee, sustains the existing nexus of crime and politics and paves the way for fervid protests and brutal suppression by the state. With the situation spiralling out of control and public support fading, the stage is set for the Singur Movement and violence in Nandigram. After witnessing the partys historic defeat in the 2011 Legislative Assembly elections, a disillusioned Rajat leaves Kolkata, only to return as a journalist covering the 2016 elections that would eventually decimate its stronghold in the state. With the partys influence on the wane ever since, the book ultimately explores the burning question: Will the CPI(M) survive the 2021 Legislative Assembly elections, or will it be pushed into permanent oblivion by the formidable Trinamool Congress and the rising BJP?