The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

political parties led by

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

in the Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. It is the current ruling political alliance of Kerala, since 2016. It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the other being

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

-led United Democratic Front, each of which has been in power alternately for the last four decades. LDF has won the elections to the State Legislature of Kerala in the years

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and had a historic re-election in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

where an incumbent government was re-elected for first time in 40 years. LDF has won 6 out of 10 elections since the formation of the alliance in 1980. The alliance consists of

CPI(M) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electoral seats, and one of the six national parties of India. ...

, CPI and various smaller parties. LDF has been in power in the State Legislature of Kerala under E. K. Nayanar (1980–81, 1987–91, 1996–2001), V. S. Achuthanandan (2006-11),

Pinarayi Vijayan Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian politician who has served as the List of chief ministers of Kerala, Chief Minister of Kerala since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), politburo ...

(2016–current). E. K. Nayanar served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for 11 years and later became the longest serving

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. '' De facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites th ...

. The alliance led by

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 The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. '' De facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites th ...

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.

History

Early years (1957–1979)

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.

1957 Kerala Legislative Assembly election The Kerala Legislative Assembly election of 1957 was the first assembly election in the Indian state of Kerala. The Communist Party of India won the election with 60 seats. The election led to the formation of first democratically elected commun ...

was the first assembly election in the Indian state of Kerala. The Communist Party of India won the election with 60 seats. The election led to the formation of first democratically elected communist government in India. A

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

-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. It was one of the first Communist governments to be democratically elected, after Communist successes in the 1945 elections in the

Republic of San Marino A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...

, a microstate in Europe, and the 1946 Czechoslovak electionsbr>
ref name="Hindu"> The coalition politics of Kerala began with 1960 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, second election held to the state legislative assembly in 1960. The

first came into power in Kerala in 1967, under Seven party front, which was an alliance of CPI(M), CPI,

IUML Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the IUML or Muslim League) is a political party primarily based in Kerala. It is recognised as a State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India. After the Partition of India, the first Counc ...

, and four other parties. In 1970's, the major political parties in the state were unified under two major coalitions, one of them led by

and

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

and the other by

Formation of LDF (1979)

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, two main pre-poll political alliances were formed: the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the

and

and the United Democratic Front (UDF), led by the

. 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).

Left Democratic Front (1980–present)

Kerala Council of Ministers 1987 EK Nayanar

LDF first came into power in 1980 election under the leadership of E. K. Nayanar sworn in as the

on 26 March 1980 for the first time in 1980. He formed government with the support of

Congress (A) Congress (A) was a political party founded by A. K. Antony when he split from the Indian National Congress (U) a splinter group of the Indian National Congress. The party was primarily active in Kerala. The party merged with the Congress (I) ...

under

A. K. Antony Arackaparambil Kurien Antony (born 28 December 1940) is an Indian lawyer, attorney and statesman who served as the Minister of Defence of India from 2006 to 2014, making him the longest serving Defence Minister in India. He previously served as ...

and

Kerala Congress Kerala Congress is an Indian political party founded in Kottayam, Kerala on 9 October 1964, by a block of former Indian National Congress leaders led by K. M. George. The party is primarily active in central Kerala. Initially its main suppor ...

under K. M. Mani, Nayanar later became the longest serving

, ever since 1980 election, the power has been clearly alternating between the two alliances till the

. LDF has won 6 out of 10 elections since the formation of the alliance in 1980. Since 1980, none of alliances in Kerala has been re-elected till the

. The

elections led E. K. Nayanar, and the

elections led by V. S. Achuthanandan formed governments and completed their full terms but were not re-elected. In 2016, LDF won the 2016 election led by

and had a historic re-election in 2021 election where an incumbent government was re-elected for first time in 40 years.

is the first

to be re-elected after completing a full term (five years) in office.

List of LDF Conveners

Current members (Main Parties)

Associate Members

The following are the associate member parties in LDF: *

NSC NSC may refer to: Banking and investment * National Sort Code, an Irish bank code * Nomura Securities Co, an investment bank Computing * National Software Centre, an Irish organization * National Supercomputer Centre in Sweden * NetShow Channe ...

(leader – P. T. A. Rahim) * RSP(L) (leader – Kovoor Kunjumon) * JSS (Left) *

Revolutionary Socialist Party (Left) Revolutionary Socialist Party (Left) is a splinter faction of Revolutionary Socialist Party of India in Kerala. The party is an ally of Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of Left-wing politics, left-wing p ...

Marxist-Leninist Party of India (Red Flag) The Marxist-Leninist Party of India (Red Flag), previously the CPI(ML) Red Flag is a communist party in India. The party is one of the most moderate factions of the wider Naxalite movement. As of 2019, key leaders of the party were M.S. Jayaku ...

(leader – Unnichekan) *

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

* Forward Bloc (Left) *

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(leader – Abdul Wahab)https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/wahab-faction-to-stand-strong-with-ldf-1.9383290 *

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

Chief ministers

List of chief ministers from Left Democratic Front in Kerala (1980–present)

List of chief ministers from parties of Left Democratic Front (1957-1980)

List of political alliances of Kerala in power (1980–present)

Electoral history

Kerala Legislative Assembly elections

Assembly election result by alliance

Indian General Elections (Lok Sabha)

In Kerala Municipal Corporations

List of elected members

Kerala Legislative Assembly

The LDF is the ruling alliance in Kerala which has 99 seats out of the 140 in the Kerala Niyamasabha. 2021 Kerala election result

The following list shows the MLAs belonging to LDF in the Niyamasabha. Key

Rajya Sabha

Keys:

Lok Sabha

Kerala local body elections

The Left Democratic Front (LDF), who also forms the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

, won in more than half of all gram panchayats and

block panchayat Panchayat samiti or block panchayat is a rural local government ( panchayat) body at the intermediate tehsil (taluka/mandal) or block level in India. It works for the villages of the tehsil that together are called a development block. It has b ...

s, two-thirds of district panchayats and in five out of six

municipal corporations Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally ow ...

Political activism

On 7 December 2011, the LDF organized a 208 km 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. LDF launched its website ahead of 2011 Kerala Assembly Election.

Notes

References

External links

Official website for election Results

LDF Keralam
{{Kerala topics Political parties in Kerala Political party alliances in India 1979 establishments in Kerala Political parties established in 1979