Political parties in Kerala

Overview of the political parties in Kerala

Kerala Legislative Assembly

Keralam Niyamasabha

15th Kerala Assembly
Structure

Political groups

| Government (98)

LDF (98)

* CPI(M) (61)
* CPI (17)
* KC(M) (5)
* NCP-SP (2)
* JD(S) (2)[1]
* RJD (1)
* KC(B) (1)
* Cong(S) (1)
* INL (1)
* NSC (1)
* JKC (1)
* Independent (5)

Opposition (41)

UDF (41)

* INC (21)
* IUML (15)
* KEC (2)
* KC(J) (1)
* DCK (1)
* RMPI (1)

Vacant (1)

Vacant (1)[2]

Kerala's major political parties are aligned under two coalitions, namely the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) since the late 1970s. Kerala was the first Indian state to have coalition government as early as 1961 .[3]

## Pre-poll alliances

[edit]

### State-level alliances

[edit]

* Left Democratic Front[4]

The Left Democratic Front (LDF), also known as Left Front (Kerala), is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the state of Kerala, India. It is the current ruling political alliance of Kerala, since 2016.[5] It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the other being Indian National Congress-led United Democratic Front, each of which has been in power alternately for the last four decades.[6] LDF has won the elections to the State Legislature of Kerala in the years 1980,[7] 1987,[8] 1996,[9] 2006,[10] 2016[11] and had a historic re-election in 2021[12] where an incumbent government was re-elected for first time in 40 years.[13] LDF has won 6 out of 10 elections since the formation of the alliance in 1980. The alliance consists of CPI(M), CPI and various smaller parties.[14]

LDF has been in power in the State Legislature of Kerala under E. K. Nayanar (1980–1981, 1987–1991, 1996–2001),[15] V. S. Achuthanandan (2006–2011),[16] Pinarayi Vijayan (2016–current).[17] E. K. Nayanar served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for 11 years and later became the longest serving Chief Minister of Kerala.[18]

The alliance led by Pinarayi Vijayan returned to power in 2016 Assembly Election winning 91 out of 140 seats and further increasing its tally to 99 seats in the 2021 Assembly Election. Pinarayi Vijayan became the first Chief minister of Kerala to be re-elected after completing a full term (five years) in office after a historic election in 2021 where an incumbent government was re-elected for the first time in 40 years.[19]

* United Democratic Front[20]

The United Democratic Front (UDF) is the Indian National Congress-led alliance of centre to centre-right political parties in the Indian state of Kerala.[21] It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the other being Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front, each of which has been in power alternately since 1980 E. K. Nayanar ministry.[22] Most of the United Democratic Front constituents are members of the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance at pan-India level.[citation needed]

United Democratic Front was created by the Indian National Congress (then known as Congress-Indira) party leader K. Karunakaran in 1979, as a successor to the existing Congress-led alliance.[23] The alliance first came to power in 1981 (K. Karunakaran ministry) and has won elections to the state legislature of Kerala in the years 1982 (Karunakaran ministry),[24] 1991 (Karunakaran and A. K. Antony ministries),[25] 2001 (Antony and Oommen Chandy ministries),[26] and 2011 (Oommen Chandy ministry).[27] The alliance currently acts as the opposition in the state legislature of Kerala (after the 2021 legislative assembly election). United Democratic Front leaders V. D. Satheesan and K. Sudhakaran currently serves as the Leader of the Opposition and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President respectively.[28]

The alliance currently consists of Indian National Congress, Indian Union Muslim League, Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Jacob), Revolutionary Socialist Party and a variety of other smaller parties. The alliance follows big tent policy and includes a variety political parties.

* National Democratic Alliance[29]

### National-level alliances

[edit]

* INDIA(INC+)
* NDA(BJP+)

## National parties

[edit]

Political party  | Abbr.  | Flag  | Electoral symbol  | Political position  | Founded  | Founder  | KL unit leader  | Alliance  | Seats

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Lok Sabha | Rajya Sabha | Kerala Legislative Assembly
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | CPIM  |  |  | Left-wing | 7 November 1964  | E. M. S. Namboodiripad | M. V. Govindan | LDF |

1 / 20

4 / 9

61 / 120

| Indian National Congress | INC  |  |  | Centre to Centre-left | 28 December 1885  | Allan Octavian Hume | K. Sudhakaran | UDF |

14 / 20

1 / 9

20 / 140

| Bharatiya Janata Party | BJP  |  |  | Right to Far-right | 6 April 1980  | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | K. Surendran | NDA |

1 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Aam Aadmi Party | AAP  |  |  | Centre | 26 November 2012  | Arvind Kejriwal | P. C. Cyriac  | N/A  |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Bahujan Samaj Party | BSP  |  |  | Centre | 14 April 1984  | Kanshi Ram | Advocate Pralhadan  | N/A  |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

## State parties

[edit]

Party  | Abbr.  | Flag  | Election
symbol  | Political
position  | Ideology  | Founded  | Leader(s)  | Kerala Unit Leader  | Alliance  | Seats

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Lok Sabha | Rajya Sabha | State
assemblies
| Communist Party of India | CPI  |  |  | Left-wing | Communism
Marxism–Leninism
Anti-capitalism
Socialism
Secularism | 1925  | D. Raja | Kanam Rajendran | LDF |

0 / 20

2 / 9

17 / 140

| Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) | NCP-SCP  |  |  | Centre | Indian nationalism
Secularism | 2024  | Sharad Pawar | PC Chacko | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

2 / 140

| Kerala Congress (M) | KECM  |  |  | Centre-Right | Welfare[30]
Democratic socialism[31] | 1979  | Jose K. Mani | Jose K. Mani | LDF |

1 / 20

1 / 9

5 / 140

| Janata Dal (Secular) | JDS  |  |  | Centre-left to left-wing | Secularism | 1999  | H. D. Deve Gowda | Mathew T. Thomas | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

2 / 140

| Rashtriya Janata Dal | RJD  |  |  | Centre-left | Socialism | 1997  | Lalu Prasad Yadav
Tejashwi Yadav | Adv. John John  | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| Indian Union Muslim League | IUML  |  |  | Centre-right[32] | Muslim interests
Social conservatism | 1948  | Hyderali Shihab Thangal | Sadiq Ali Thangal | UDF |

2 / 20

1 / 9

15 / 140

| Revolutionary Socialist Party | RSP  |  |  | Far-left | Communism
Marxism–Leninism[33]
Revolutionary socialism | 1940  | Manoj Bhattacharya[34] | A. A. Aziz | UDF |

1 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

## Registered recognized/unrecognized parties

[edit]

Party  | Abbr.  | Flag  | Election
symbol  | Political
position  | Ideology  | Founded  | Leader(s)  | Kerala Unit Leader  | Alliance  | Seats

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Lok Sabha | Rajya Sabha | State
assemblies
| Kerala Congress | KEC  |  |  | Centre-Right | Welfare | 1964  | P. J. Joseph | P. J. Joseph | UDF |

1 / 20

0 / 9

2 / 140

| Kerala Congress (B) | KECB  |  |  |  |  | 1977  | K. B. Ganesh Kumar | K. B. Ganesh Kumar | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| Congress (Secular) | CONS  |  |  |  |  | 1978  | Kadannappalli Ramachandran | Kadannappalli Ramachandran | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| Kerala Congress (Jacob) | KECJ  |  |  | Centre-Right | Secularism
Socialism
Democracy | 1993  | Anoop Jacob | Anoop Jacob | UDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| Indian National League | INL  |  |  |  | Secularism | 1994  | Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait | Ahamed Devarkovil | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| National Secular Conference | NSC  |  |  |  |  | 2011  | V. Abdurahiman | V. Abdurahiman | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| Revolutionary Marxist Party of India | RMPI  |  |  | Left-Wing | Communism
Marxism-Leninism | 2016  | Mangat Ram Pasla | K. K. Rema | UDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| Janadhipathya Kerala Congress | JKC  |  |  | Centre-Left | Socialism | 2016  | Dr. K. C. Joseph | Dr. K. C. Joseph | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| Revolutionary Socialist Party (Leninist) | RSPL  |  |  | Far-Left | Communism
Marxism–Leninism
Revolutionary socialism | 2016  | Kovoor Kunjumon | Kovoor Kunjumon | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy | JSS  |  |  |  | Communism
Marxism | 1994  | Rajan Babu  | Rajan Babu  | UDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Communist Marxist Party | CMP  |  |  |  | Communism
Marxism
Luxemburgism | 1986  | C. P. John | C. P. John | UDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| All India Forward Bloc | AIFB  |  |  | Left-Wing | Left-wing nationalism
Socialism
Anti-imperialism
Marxism | 1939  | Naren Chatterjee  | G. Devarajan  | UDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Welfare Party of India | WPI  |

|  |  | Social Justice
Democracy
Welfare State | 2011  | Dr. Raisudheen Baidya | Razak Paleri |  |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Kerala Congress (Skaria Thomas) | KECST  |  |  |  |  | 2015  | Binoy Joseph  | Binoy Joseph  | LDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Bharath Dharma Jana Sena | BDJS  |  |  |  |  | 2015  | Thushar Vellappally  | Thushar Vellappally  | NDA |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Kerala Kamaraj Congress | KKC  |  |  |  |  | 2016  | Vishnupuram Chandrasekharan  | Vishnupuram Chandrasekharan  | NDA |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Janadhipathya Rashtriya Sabha | JRS  |  |  |  | Dalit rights
Adivasi rights | 2016  | C. K. Janu | C. K. Janu | NDA |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| National Janata Dal  | NJD  |  |  |  |  | 2018  | Adv John John  | Adv John John  | UDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Kerala Democratic Party | KDP  |  |  | Centre-Left | Democratic socialism
Liberalism | 2021  | Mani C. Kappan | Mani C. Kappan | UDF |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| Kerala Congress Democratic | KCD  |  |  | Centre-Right | Welfare | 2024  | Saji Manjakadambil  | Saji Manjakadambil  | NDA |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

| Democratic Movement of Kerala | DMK  |  |  |  | Secularism | 2024  | P. V. Anvar | P. V. Anvar |  |

0 / 20

0 / 9

1 / 140

| AnnA DHRM Party Of India  | AnnA DHRM Party  |

|  |  | Social Democracy
Through
Common man | 2020  | Thathu Annan  | Saji Kollam  |  |

0 / 20

0 / 9

0 / 140

## See also

[edit]

* Communist Party of India (Marxist), Kerala
* Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee
* Bharatiya Janata Party, Kerala
* 2024 Indian general election in Kerala
* 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election

## References

[edit]

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2. ^ "Kerala Court Cancels CPI(M) MLA's Election From Reserved Devikulam Seat". Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
3. ^ Menon, A. Sreedhara (2007). A Survey of Kerala History. DC Books. ISBN 9788126415786.
4. ^ "LDF wins 99 of 140 seats in Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan to be CM again". The News Minute. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
5. ^ "The Left returns in Kerala". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
6. ^ "Election history of Kerala". CEO Kerala. Chief Election Officer, Kerala. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
7. ^ "Victory of CPI-M-led LDF in Kerala elections manifests swing away from Congress(I)". India Today. 15 February 1980. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
8. ^ "It was a vote for secularism, democracy and progress: E.K. Nayanar". India Today. 15 April 1987. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
9. ^ "Elections 1996: Marxists-led LDF dislodges Congress(I) and its allies". India Today. 31 May 1996. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
10. ^ "Return of the warrior V. S. Achuthanandan". India Today. 10 April 2016. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
11. ^ "Pinarayi Vijayan takes oath as Kerala Chief Minister Hailing from a poor toddy tapper's family, Vijayan, a first time Chief Minister, took the oath in Malayalam". Indian Express. 26 May 2016. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
12. ^ "Election results: Left creates history in Kerala". Times of India. 2 May 2021. %1$s Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021. `{{cite web}}`: Check `|archive-url=` value (help)
13. ^ "How 'captain' Pinarayi Vijayan led LDF in Kerala, is set to break a decades-old record". The Print. 2 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
14. ^ "Alliance Wise and Party Wise Kerala Election Results 2021 LIVE". First Post. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
15. ^ "KERALA NIYAMASABHA E.K.NAYANAR". stateofkerala.in. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
16. ^ "Kerala Council of Ministers:2006–2011". www.keralaassembly.org. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
17. ^ "Chief Ministers of kerala". kerala.gov.in. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
18. ^ "E.K.Nayanar". niyamasabha.org. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
19. ^ "LDF shatters Kerala's 40-year record, Pinarayi Vijayan now the Marxist Helmsman". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
20. ^ "In Kerala, UDF workers lay siege to State, Central offices". The Hindu. 20 September 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
21. ^ "India's election results were more than a 'Modi wave'". Washington Post. Retrieved 31 May 2019. "The BJP's primary rival, the centrist Indian National Congress (Congress), won only 52 seats."
22. ^ "Election history of Kerala". CEO Kerala. Chief Election Officer, Kerala.
23. ^ PTI (23 December 2010). "Who was K Karunakaran?". NDTV. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
24. ^ "Congress(I) leader Karunakaran sworn in as Kerala CM". India Today. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
25. ^ Isaac, T. M. Thomas; Kumar, S. Mohana (1991). "Kerala Elections, 1991: Lessons and Non-Lessons". Economic and Political Weekly. 26 (47): 2691–2704\. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4398338.2691-2704&rft.date=1991&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4398338#id-name=JSTOR&rft.issn=0012-9976&rft.aulast=Isaac&rft.aufirst=T.+M.+Thomas&rft.au=Kumar,+S.+Mohana&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Political+parties+in+Kerala" class="Z3988">
26. ^ Menon, Girish (14 May 2001). "LDF swept out in Kerala". Retrieved 2 February 2021.
27. ^ Anantha Krishnan (13 May 2011). "This story is from May 13, 2011 Kerala assembly elections 2011: UDF wins by narrow margin". Times of India. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
28. ^ Chandran, Cynthia (3 October 2020). "MM Hassan takes charge as the UDF convener". The New Indian Express.
29. ^ Staff Writer (8 March 2021). "'New Kerala with Modi': NDA unveils campaign slogan ahead of assembly polls". mint. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
30. ^ "KM Mani: The man behind the 'Theory of the Toiling Class'". The New Indian Express. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
31. ^ "K M Mani honoured at British Parliament Hall". The New Indian Express. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
32. ^ "A coloured scheme of things". Archived from the original on 19 July 2023.
33. ^ Bidyut Chakrabarty (2014). Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies. Oxford University Press. p. 61\. ISBN 978-0-19-997489-4.
34. ^ "Indian citizenship act against humanity: Manoj Bhattacharya". prothomalo.com. March 2020.