Summary
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) 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.[2] It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the other being Congress-led UDF, each of which has been in power alternately for the last four decades.[3] LDF has won the elections to the State Legislature of Kerala in the years 1980,[4] 1987,[5] 1996,[6] 2006,[7] 2016[8] and had a historic re-election in 2021[9] where an incumbent government was re-elected for first time in 40 years.[10] The alliance consists of CPI(M), CPI, KC(M), NCP, JD(S) and various smaller parties.[11]
Left Democratic Front | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | LDF |
| Leader | Pinarayi Vijayan (Chief Minister of Kerala) |
| Chairperson | E. P. Jayarajan |
| Founder | P. K. Vasudevan Nair E. M. S. Namboodiripad |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Headquarters | AKG Centre, Thiruvananthapuram |
| Ideology | Big tent Majority: Communism[1] |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 2 / 20 |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 6 / 9 |
| Seats in Kerala Legislative Assembly | 99 / 140 |
| Website | |
| ldfkeralam | |
LDF has been in power in the State Legislature of Kerala under E. K. Nayanar (1980–1981, 1987–1991, 1996–2001),[12] V. S. Achuthanandan (2006–2011),[13] Pinarayi Vijayan (2016–current).[14] E. K. Nayanar served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for 11 years and later became the longest serving Chief Minister of Kerala.[15]
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.[16]
Current membersEdit
HistoryEdit
The political scenario in Kerala (1957–1980) 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.[19]A Communist-led government under E. M. S. Namboodiripad resulted from the first elections for the new Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1957, making him the first communist leader in India to head a popularly elected government.[20][21] It was the second ever Communist government to be democratically elected, after Communist success in the 1945 elections in the Republic of San Marino, a microstate in Europe.[22][23] The coalition politics of Kerala began with second election held to the state legislative assembly in 1960.[19] The Communist Party of India (Marxist) first came into power in Kerala in 1967, under Seven party front, which was an alliance of CPI(M), CPI, IUML, and four other parties.[24] In 1970's, the major political parties in the state were unified under two major coalitions, one of them led by Indian National Congress and Communist Party of India and the other by CPI(M).
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, two main pre-poll political alliances were formed: the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India and the United Democratic Front (UDF), led by the Indian National Congress.[19] These 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 (Left Democratic Front or United Democratic Front).
LDF first came into power in Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1980 under the leadership of E. K. Nayanar who later became the longest serving Chief Minister of Kerala, ever since 1980 election, the power has been clearly alternating between the two alliances till the 2016.[19] In 2016, LDF won the 2016 election and had a historic re-election in 2021 election where an incumbent government was re-elected for first time in 40 years. Pinarayi Vijayan is the first Chief minister of Kerala to be re-elected after completing a full term (five years) in office.[25]
List of LDF ConvenersEdit
| No | Year | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1980 - 1986 | PV Kunjikannan |
| 2 | 1986 - 1987 | T. K. Ramakrishnan |
| 3 | 1987 - 1998 | M. M. Lawrence |
| 4 | 1998 - 2001 | V. S. Achuthanandan |
| 5 | 2001 - 2006 | Paloli Mohammed Kutty |
| 6 | 2006 - 2018 | Vaikom Viswan |
| 7 | 2018 - 2022 | A. Vijayaraghavan |
| 8 | 2022 - present | E. P. Jayarajan |
Chief MinistersEdit
Pre-Left Democratic Front Parties Chief Ministers (1956 – 1979)Edit
- E. M. S. Namboodiripad (1957 – 59), (1967 - 1969)
- C. Achutha Menon (1969-1977)
- P. K. Vasudevan Nair (1978 – 79)
List of political alliances of Kerala in power (1980 - present)Edit
| No. | Political party | Total days in governance | Number of Chief ministers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LDF | 8062 days | 3 | |
| 2 | UDF | 7,295 days | 3 | |
List of Chief Ministers by length of term (1980 - present)Edit
| № | Portrait | Name Ministry (Year) |
Length of term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longest continuous term | Total years of premiership | |||
| 1 | 
|
E. K. Nayanar 1st Nayanar (1980 - 1981) 2nd Nayanar (1987 - 1991) 3rd Nayanar (1996 - 2001) |
5 years, 27 days | 11 years, 10 days |
| 2 | 
|
V. S. Achuthanandan Achuthanandan (2006 - 2011) |
4 years, 364 days | 4 years, 364 days |
| 3 | 
|
Pinarayi Vijayan 1st Pinarayi (2016 - 2021) 2nd Pinarayi (2021 - present) |
6 years, 40 days | 6 years, 40 days |
Electoral historyEdit
| Election | Leader | Seats won | Change | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | E. K. Nayanar | 93 / 140
|
New | Government |
| 1982 | 63 / 140
|
 30
|
Opposition | |
| 1987 | 78 / 140
|
 15
|
Government | |
| 1991 | 48 / 140
|
42
|
Opposition | |
| 1996 | 80 / 140
|
32
|
Government | |
| 2001 | V. S. Achuthanandan | 40 / 140
|
40
|
Opposition |
| 2006 | 98 / 140
|
58
|
Government | |
| 2011 | 68 / 140
|
30
|
Opposition | |
| 2016 | Pinarayi Vijayan | 91 / 140
|
23
|
Government |
| 2021 | 99 / 140
|
8
|
Government |
Electoral historyEdit
| Election | Seats won | Ruling Coalition |
Majority | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LDF | UDF | Others | |||
| 1980 | 93 | 46 | 1 | LDF | 47 |
| 1982 | 63 | 77 | 0 | UDF | 14 |
| 1987 | 78 | 61 | 1 | LDF | 17 |
| 1991 | 48 | 90 | 2 | UDF | 40 |
| 1996 | 80 | 59 | 1 | LDF | 21 |
| 2001 | 40 | 99 | 1 | UDF | 59 |
| 2006 | 98 | 42 | 0 | LDF | 56 |
| 2011 | 68 | 72 | 0 | UDF | 4 |
| 2016 | 91 | 47 | 2 | LDF | 44 |
| 2021 | 99 | 41 | 0 | LDF | 59 |
List of elected membersEdit
The LDF is the ruling alliance in Kerala which has 99 seats out of the 140 in the Kerala Niyamasabha.
| No. | Party | Current No. of MLAs in Assembly |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 62 |
| 2 | Communist Party of India | 17 |
| 3 | Kerala Congress (M) | 5 |
| 4 | Nationalist Congress Party | 2 |
| 5 | Janata Dal (Secular) | 2 |
| 6 | Kerala Congress (B) | 1 |
| 7 | Rashtriya Janata Dal | 1 |
| 8 | Indian National League | 1 |
| 9 | Congress (Secular) | 1 |
| 10 | Janadhipathya Kerala Congress | 1 |
| 11 | National Secular Conference | 1 |
| 12 | LDF Supported Independents | 5 |
| Total Seats | 99 |
The following list shows the MLAs belonging to LDF in the Niyamasabha.
Key
CPI(M) CPI KC(M) JD(S) RJD NCP
2020 Kerala local body electionsEdit
The Left Democratic Front (LDF), who also forms the state government, won in more than half of all gram panchayats and block panchayats, two-thirds of district panchayats and in five out of six municipal corporations.
| Local self-government body | Local Bodies in lead | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LDF | UDF | Others | Tie | ||
| Gram Panchayats | 514 | 321 | 42 | 64 | 941 |
| Block Panchayats | 108 | 38 | 0 | 6 | 152 |
| District Panchayats | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 [a] | 14 |
| Municipalities | 43 | 41 | 2 | 0 [b] | 86 |
| Corporations | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Political activismEdit
On 7 December 2011, the LDF organized a 208KM human wall demanding the construction of a new dam in place of the present 115-year leaky dam at Mullapperiyar. The human wall was the second-longest of the kind in Kerala which stretched across two districts.[26]
LDF launched its website ahead of 2011 Kerala Assembly Election.[27]
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Chakrabarty, Bidyut (2014). Communism in India: Events, Processes and Ideologies. Oxford University Press. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-199-97489-4.
- ^ "The Left returns in Kerala". The Hindu.
- ^ "Election history of Kerala". CEO Kerala. Chief Election Officer, Kerala.
- ^ "Victory of CPI-M-led LDF in Kerala elections manifests swing away from Congress(I)". India Today. 15 February 1980.
- ^ "It was a vote for secularism, democracy and progress: E.K. Nayanar". India Today. 15 April 1987.
- ^ "Elections 1996: Marxists-led LDF dislodges Congress(I) and its allies". India Today. 31 May 1996.
- ^ "Return of the warrior V. S. Achuthanandan". India Today. 10 April 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Election results: Left creates history in Kerala". Times of India. 2 May 2021.
- ^ "How 'captain' Pinarayi Vijayan led LDF in Kerala, is set to break a decades-old record". The Print.
- ^ "Alliance Wise and Party Wise Kerala Election Results 2021 LIVE". First Post.
- ^ "KERALA NIYAMASABHA E.K.NAYANAR". stateofkerala.in.
- ^ "Kerala Council of Ministers:2006–2011". www.keralaassembly.org.
- ^ "Chief Ministers of kerala". kerala.gov.in.
- ^ "E.K.Nayanar". niyamasabha.org.
- ^ "LDF shatters Kerala's 40-year record, Pinarayi Vijayan now the Marxist Helmsman". The Economic Times. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- ^ TNN (27 December 2018). "Kerala: Four new parties find berths in LDF". Times of India. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- ^ "Kerala Congress (M) Jose K Mani faction joins LDF". The News Minute. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d "India". Australia: Refugee Review Tribunal. 19 March 2007. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via archive.is.
- ^ Olle Törnquist (1991). "Communists and democracy: Two Indian cases and one debate" (PDF). Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars. 23 (2): 63–76. doi:10.1080/14672715.1991.10413152. ISSN 0007-4810. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
The first democratically elected communist-led government in India actually came to power in 1957 in the southwest-Indian state of Kerala. Two years later this government was undemocratically toppled-by the union government and the Congress-I party with Indira Gandhi in the forefront. But the communists were reelected and led several of the following state governments.
- ^ Sarina Singh; Amy Karafin; Anirban Mahapatra (1 September 2009). South India. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74179-155-6. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ K.G. Kumar (12 April 2007). "50 years of development". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
- ^ Manali Desai (27 November 2006). State Formation and Radical Democracy in India. Taylor & Francis. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-203-96774-4. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
- ^ Luke Koshi, Saritha S. Balan (19 June 2017). "Kerala chronicles: When a coalition of 7 political parties came together only to fall apart". The News Minute. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "LDF shatters Kerala's 40-year record, Pinarayi Vijayan now the Marxist Helmsman". The Economic Times. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- ^ "208-km human chain formed for new Kerala dam". Hindustan Times.
- ^ Nair, N.J. (18 March 2011). "Assembly polls log on to cyberspace". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
Further readingEdit
- Chief Ministers, Ministers, and Leaders of Opposition of Kerala (PDF), Thiruvananthapuram: Secratriat of Kerala Legislature, 2018
External linksEdit
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Left Democratic Front (Kerala). |
- Official website for election Results
- LDF Keralam