Politics of Kerala

Kerala is an Indian state, where federal legislative power is vested in the unicameral Kerala Legislative Assembly. The multilateral system has, since 1956, been dominated by the several pre-poll and post-poll alliances.
The judiciary of Kerala is independent of the executive and the legislature, while it is common for leading members of the executive to be members of the legislature as well. The political system is laid out in the Constitution of India.
Legislative Assembly has a membership of 140, where all 140 are elected. Kerala has 20 seats in the Lok Sabha (Indian Lower House) and nine seats in the Rajya Sabha (the Council of States). Elections are also held to choose representatives to the civic bodies at various levels within Kerala.

Electoral history

Results for the Kerala Legislative Assembly have been:

Ideologies

Left-wing/center-left politics

The general socio-political thought and behavior of the Keralite population inclines strongly toward left-wing and center-left groups, as such, communist parties have made strong inroads across the state for decades. In fact, Kerala is the first autonomous polity in Asia and only second in the world to have democratically elected a fully communist-led government into power, with the first-ever being San Marino, a microstate enclaved by Italy.
Northern Kerala, particularly the districts of Kannur and Palakkad, is generally considered the heartland of communist support. The districts of Kollam and Alappuzha also generally inclined towards left-wing or center-left parties, even though the United Democratic Front have won elections from the constituencies of these districts several times.
Some parties like Communist Marxist Party, Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy and the Revolutionary Marxist Party of India also represent left-wing politics in the state.

Congress politics

Indian National Congress leads the United Democratic Front pre-poll alliance in Kerala. The alliance was created by the Congress party leader K. Karunakaran in 1978. Since the 1980s, it has sustained itself as the front to take on the Communist Party of India Marxist-led Left Democratic Front.
The alliance first came into power in Kerala in 1981 under K. Karunakaran. It led the Kerala government in 1981 - 82, 1982 - 87, 1991 - 96, 2001 - 06 and 2011 - 16.
The party has strong bases in Ernakulam and Kottayam regions of central Kerala.
The Nationalist Congress Party- Sharadchandra Pawar and Congress (S) are other parties which holds the Congress politics. Both of them were split from Indian National Congress, and now form allies of LDF. The Kerala Congress factions also have their origin in a split which occurred in Indian National Congress in the year 1964. DIC(K) was another party formed by raising Congress politics in Kerala, but was later dissolved.

Political underrepresentation of [Ezhava]

Despite constituting around 24% of Kerala’s population, the Ezhava community has been described as under represented in both the LDF and the UDF. In the LDF ministry, Ezhavas have held 5 ministerial positions, while the Nair community, which comprises about 12% of the state’s population, has held 7 ministerial posts.
Within the UDF, representation concerns have also been raised. There is no OBC representation in the top leadership of the Congress in Kerala at present. Of the 14 District Congress Committees in Kerala, only 4 have presidents from the Ezhava community. Among the state’s 14 Congress MPs, only 2 belong to the community, while only 1 of the party’s 22 MLAs represents the Ezhavas. Additionally, none of the three newly appointed working presidents of the KPCC are from the community.

Communitarian politics

Indian Union Muslim League is a major member of the United Democratic Front. Indian Union Muslim League first gained a ministry in Kerala Government as part of a Communist Party of India Marxist-led alliance in the late 1960s. The party later switched fronts and formed an alliance with the Congress. It later became a chief constituent in a succession of Indian National Congress-lead ministries.
The party has strong bases in Malappuram District in central Kerala. The party is also strong in the northern belts of Kasaragod district and the southern parts of Kozhikode district in Northern Kerala.
Kerala Congress, which has several factions in United Democratic Front and Left Democratic Front, has strong influence in central Kerala. The various Kerala Congress factions are primarily patronized by Syrian Christian community mostly in areas like Kottayam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta and Muvattupuzha.

Right-wing politics

Right-wing politics in Kerala is represented by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP got their first seat in the Kerala legislative assembly in 2016. The BJP failed to win a seat in the 2021 elections. But won 1 seat in the 2024 elections.

Coalition politics

The current politics in Kerala is largely dominated by two pre-poll alliances

The two alliances have been alternatively voted to power in Kerala since 1980 till 2021.
The pre-poll political alliances of Kerala have stabilized strongly in such a manner that, with rare exceptions, most of the coalition partners stick their loyalty to the respective alliances. As a result of this, ever since 1979, the power has been clearly alternating between the two alliances without any exceptions, until this spell was broken in the 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election.
However, till then the political scenario in Kerala was characterized by continually shifting alliances, party mergers and splits, factionalism within the coalitions and within political parties, and the formation of a numerous splinter groups.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, two main pre-poll political alliances were formed: the Left Democratic Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India and the United Democratic Front, led by the Indian National Congress.
Since the early 1980s these two pre-poll political alliances have alternated in government with neither able to gain re-election for a second term. Clashes between supporters of the two coalitions have occurred periodically. Both have accused the other of corruption, promoting or condoning political violence, and "the general breakdown of law and order" during their periods in government.

Mandate	Ministry No.	Ruling Coalition Name
2021	23	LDF
2016	22	LDF
2011	21	UDF
2006	20	LDF
2001	19	UDF
2001	18	UDF
1996	17	LDF
1991	16	UDF
1991	15	UDF
1987	14	LDF
1982	13	UDF
1980	12	UDF
1980	11	LDF
1977	10	—
1977	9	—
1977	8	—
1977	7	—
1970	6	—
1967	5	—
1967	4	—
1965		No ministry formed
1960	3	—
1960	2	—
1957	1	—

Student politics

Student politics in Kerala is highly active and influential, unlike in many other Indian states where it has declined. Most student organizations are linked to major political parties and there are student political alliances as well, such as the United Democratic Students Front, which includes KSU and MSF.
Below is the list of active students parties in Kerala:

Name of the Student Organization	Year of Establishment	Political Affiliation
Students' Federation of India	1970	Communist Party of India (Marxist) – CPI
Kerala Students Union	1957	Indian National Congress – INC
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad	1949	Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – RSS / Bharatiya Janata Party – BJP
All India Students Federation	1936	Communist Party of India – CPI
Muslim Students Federation	1937	Indian Union Muslim League – IUML
Fraternity Movement	2011	Welfare Party of India /

2021 Assembly elections

LDF	Seats	UDF	Seats
CPI(M)	62	INC	21
CPI	17	IUML	15
LDF Independent	5	KEC	2
KC(M)	5	KC(J)	1
JD(S)	2	RMPI	1
NCP	2	UDF Independent	1
C(S)	1	RSP	0
KC(B)	1	CMP	0
NSC	1
INL	1
JKC	1
LJD	1
INL	0
LDF	99	UDF	41