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All 133 seats in the Kerala Legislative Assembly 67 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 75.67% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Kerala Legislative Assembly election of 1967 was the fourth assembly election in the Indian state of Kerala. [1] [2]
Kerala, locally known as Keralam, is a state on the southwestern, Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions. Spread over 38,863 km2 (15,005 sq mi), Kerala is the twenty-second largest Indian state by area. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea and Arabian Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Kerala is the thirteenth-largest Indian state by population. It is divided into 14 districts with the capital being Thiruvananthapuram. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state.
In the 1965 elections, no party was able to form a government in Kerala. No viable coalition took shape, and Kerala went back to President Rule for another 2 years.
Kerala again went back to the polls in 1967. Both communist parties - CPI (M) and CPI - along with smaller parties including SSP and Muslim League contested this election as a United Front. A total of seven parties contested in the front, and the front was known as Saptakakshi Munnani . Congress and Kerala Congress contested separately.
Saptakakshi Munnani or the United Front was a short-lived alliance of seven political parties in Kerala state, India, which won the 1967 Kerala Legislative Assembly election. It was led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the other parties in the coalition were Communist Party of India (CPI), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Indian Socialist Party (ISP), Kerala Socialist Party (KSP) and Karshaka Thozhilali Party (KTP). The coalition had a comfortable majority of 117 members out of 133. E. M. S. Namboodiripad was sworn in as the Chief Minister for the second time on March 6, 1967. But even before completing 30 months, internal dissensions surfaced and the government fell 32 months after assuming power, on October 24, 1969. Following this, the CPI, RSP, IUML and ISP exited from the coalition and constituted a mini-front.
Total polling percentage was 75.67%.
There were 133 constituencies in total, out of which 120 were General Category, 11 Scheduled Castes and 2 Scheduled Tribe seats.
The national parties contested were Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress, Praja Socialist Party, Sanghata Socialist Party and Swatantra Party along with the state parties Indian Union Muslim League and Kerala Congress.
Political Party | Flag | Seats Contested | Won | Net Change in seats | % of Seats | Votes | Vote % | Change in vote % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bharatiya Jana Sangh | 22 | 0 | NA | 0 | 55,584 | 0.88 | NA | ||
Communist Party of India | 22 | 19 | 14.29 | 538,004 | 8.57 | ||||
Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 59 | 52 | 39.10 | 1,476,456 | 23.51 | ||||
Indian National Congress | 133 | 9 | 6.77 | 2,789,556 | 35.43 | ||||
Praja Socialist Party | 7 | 0 | NA | 0 | 13,991 | 0.22 | NA | ||
Samyukta Socialist Party | 21 | 19 | 6 | 14.29 | 527,662 | 8.4 | |||
Swatantra Party | 6 | 0 | NA | 14.29 | 13,105 | 0.21 | NA | ||
Kerala Congress | 61 | 5 | 3.76 | 475,172 | 7.57 | ||||
IUML | 15 | 14 | 10.53 | 424,159 | 6.75 | ||||
Independent | 75 | 15 | 11.28 | 531,783 | 8.47 | ||||
Total Seats | 133 ( | Voters | 8,613,658 | Turnout | 6,518,272 (75.67 %) |
The United Front performed spectacularly swept most of the seats. Congress and Kerala Congress were decimated with 9 and 5 seats respectively. E M S became the Chief Minister for the second time. Second E. M. S. Namboodiripad Ministry had 14 members. For the first time in Kerala's history, the cabinet also included members from Muslim League.
K. Karunakaran became the opposition leader in the assembly.
Kannoth "K." Karunakaran was an Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress party. He served as the Chief Minister of Kerala four times: for a brief period from March 1977 to April 1977, another short term from December 1981 to March 1982, followed by a brief period of president's rule from March 1982 to May 1982, from May 1982 to May 1987, and from June 1992 to May 1995. He was admired by all political parties for his determination and political skills. He was instrumental in several massive infrastructure projects in Kerala which includes the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Kochi) and the Cochin International Airport. These were sanctioned during his last stint as Chief Minister of Kerala from 1992 to 1995. In his honour, a pavilion in the Cochin stadium is named after him.
CPI (M) and CPI continued to have suspicions with each other. Due to the alleged high-handedness of CPI (M) in governance, most smaller parties were unsatisfied. This period also was marked with series of student strikes and police firings. CPI, SSP & Muslim League eventually became a group within the front, and worked together. Many ministers from the smaller parties resigned eventually, and many parties subsequently left the front.
On October 24, 1969, EMS submitted resignation owing to the loss of majority in the assembly.
Within a week of resignation of E M S Namboothiripad, M N Govindan Nair of CPI informed the Governor that their party was ready to form an alternate government.[ citation needed ] CPI formed a government with outside support from Congress. C. Achutha Menon became the Chief Minister of Kerala on 1969, November 1. The First Achutha Menon Ministry had 8 members.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is the largest communist party in India. The party emerged from a split from the Communist Party of India in 1964. The CPI(M) was formed at the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of India held in Calcutta from 31 October to 7 November 1964. As of 2018, CPI(M) is leading the state government in Kerala and having elected members in 8 state legislative assemblies including Kerala, West Bengal, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, and Rajasthan. It also leads the West Bengal Left Front. As of 2016, CPI(M) claimed to have 1,048,678 members. The highest body of the party is the Politburo.
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