Politics of Kerala




Political activity in the Indian State of Kerala takes place in a multi-party framework, within the overall context of the National Politics of India. The state holds an invariable position of having the largest politically aware and active population in the Country. The state Legislature is unicameral and has a membership of 141, where 140 are elected and one is nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. It has 20 seats in the Lok Sabha and 9 seats in the Rajya Sabha. Elections are also held to choose representatives to the civic bodies at various levels within the State, and the state has consistently come out with a voter turnout of 70% or above in almost all elections which have ever been held.

The background

Politics in Kerala is dominated by 3 coalition fronts: The Communist Party of India-led Left Democratic Front , the Indian National Congress-led United Democratic Front and BJP lead NDA since late 1970s. The former two coalitions have been alternatively voted to power since 1982.
The political alliances 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 fronts without any exceptions. 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. The political scenario has changed in Kerala and currently majority of news events are happening with respect to actions taken by political parties in Kerala.

Leftist inclination

The social thought and behavior of the State in general has a strong inclination towards Leftism and thus the Communist parties have made strong inroads in Kerala. The Malabar region, particularly Kannur and Palakkad are considered to be the heartland for Communist support. The Kollam and Alapuzha districts, where trade unions have very strong presence, are generally inclined towards the Left parties; though the UDF have won elections from the constituencies of these districts several times. The largest Communist party in terms of membership is CPI and the second is CPI. Kerala was the first Indian state where the communists were voted to power. Indian National Congress also has a very strong presence in Kerala. The party has strong bases in Ernakulam and Kottayam regions.

Regional parties

The first coalition government in Kerala was formed in 1960 and was headed by Pattom A. Thanu Pillai. The alliance comprised PSP, Congress and Muslim League. Pillai resigned in February 1962 after being appointed as Punjab governor and R. Sankar of Congress became Chief Minister. He also resigned in September 1964 after a no-confidence motion was passed in the Assembly. After the 1965 election, no party was able to form a government due to the fractured nature of results. The assembly was dissolved and the state was under Presidents Rule. In the 1967 election, a seven-party alliance named Saptakakshi Munnani won the election. This coalition also did not last long. In the 1970 election, CPI and Congress led Aikya Munanni emerged victorious and continued in power till 1979.
In 1980s, two main political coalitions were formed: the leftist Left Democratic Front, led by the Communist Party of India & Communist Party of India and the Centrist United Democratic Front, led by the Indian National Congress. Since the early 1980s these two coalitions have alternated in government with neither Front able to gain re-election for a second term. Clashes between supporters of the two coalitions have occurred periodically. Both the INC and the CPI have accused the other of corruption, promoting or condoning political violence, and "the general breakdown of law and order" during their periods in government.
The First Students Organization in India is All India Students Federation is the students wing of CPI, the Student Federation of India is the student arm of the CPI, while the Kerala Student Union is a pioneer of the students’ movement of the INC.The Muslim Students Federation is the students wing of the Indian Union Muslim League.

Bandhs and Harthals

and political violence has become the characteristics of Kerala society in India. The state treasury of Kerala has suffered losses of thousands of millions of rupees, thanks to the state staging over 100 hartals annually in recent times. A record total of 223 harthals were observed in 2006, resulting in a revenue loss of over 2000 crore. There were around 363 of "Hartals", called by different political parties, between 2005 and 2012.
Hartals are called for various reasons, political, economic and social. According to the OrganisorKerala has the highest level of loss of manhours due to industrial unrest and the state has organized the highest number of strikes and harthals in the country.

Social cohesion

Kerala has been the first state in India to openly accommodate the Transgender community. From transgender pageants to sporting events Kerala strives to provide equal opportunities to the repressed. It was also the first state to pass and implement an exclusive policy for the social and economic growth of the transgender community, employed 23 in the recently operational Kochi Metro and opened a school where dropouts and aspirants could pursue their education barring gender stereotypes.
High profile politicians and actors such as Shashi Tharoor, Pinarayi Vijayan, Aju Varghese and Vineeth Srinivasan to name a few, had expressed their disapproval publicly of the BJP enforced beef ban and the subsequent attacks in other states pertaining to the same issue. Kerala has been widely hailed as a state where people from every community happily coexists with Christian nuns dancing the "thiruvathira" which was traditionally a danceform prevalent amongst the upper-caste Hindu Nair community.
The situation has changed a lot, the society is now much more tolerant to change, especially in the cities.

Kiss of Love protest

Kiss of Love protest is a non-violent protest against moral policing which started in Kerala, India, and later spread to other parts of India. The movement began when a Facebook page called 'Kiss of love' called forth the youth across Kerala to participate in a protest against moral policing on 2 November 2014, at Marine Drive, Cochin. The movement received widespread support with more than 154,404 'Likes' for the Facebook page. After the initial protest in Kochi, similar protests were organised in other major cities of the country. It received opposition from various religious and political groups like Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Sena and Ernakulam wing of Kerala Students Union. On specific occasions but not exclusively, both the Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court have made it clear that kissing in public is not an obscene act and no criminal proceedings can be initiated, for kissing in public, through landmark judgments.

Election results

Results for the Kerala Legislative Assembly have been: