Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad, popularly known by his initials 'E. M. S.' was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957–1959 and then again in 1967–1969. As a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), he became the first non-Congress Chief Minister in the Indian republic. In 1964, he led a faction of the CPI that broke away to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest communist party in India. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur on 26 December 1925.
Panikkassery Keshavan "P.K." Balakrishnan was an Indian novelist and critic. A doyen of Malayalam literature, he is best known for his novel, Ini Njan Urangatte, a novel based on Mahabharata as well as a number of critical studies which include Chandu Menon Oru Padanam, Novel Siddhiyum Sadhanayum, Kavyakala Kumaranasaniloode, and Ezhuthachante Kala: Chila Vyasabharatha Patanangalum. His Jathivyavasthayum Kerala Charitravum is a work in social history.
Chelat Achutha Menon was an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 4th Chief Minister of Kerala from November 1969 to August 1970 and again from October 1970 to 1977. He is viewed as one of the most influential Chief Ministers of Kerala.
Pattom A. Thanu Pillai was an Indian politician and independence activist who served as the 2nd Chief Minister of Kerala from 1960 to 1962. He was considered a central figure in Kerala politics.
Mathai Manjooran was an Indian independence activist from Kerala, socialist revolutionary, founder of the Kerala Socialist Party, Member of Parliament, Minister of Labour (economics) in the second E.M.S. Namboodiripad communist ministry, and above all a proponent for the formation of the Kerala State.
The Liberation Struggle in Kerala (1958–59) was a period of anticommunist protest against the first elected state government in Kerala, India, which was led by E. M. S. Namboodiripad of the Communist Party of India. Organised opposition to the state government was spearheaded by the Syro-Malabar Church, the Nair Service Society, the Indian Union Muslim League, and Indian National Congress. The Communists believed the movement received funds mostly from outside of India, mobilised by the CIA and international Catholic organisations. In the aftermath of "liberation struggle", atleast 15 people mostly Christians including a pregnant woman are recorded to be dead from various police firings and at the hands of communist workers. Following mass protests and deaths from police firing, in 1959, the Indian government finally bowed to pressure and dismissed Namboodiripad on 31 July 1959.
Akathoot Balakrishna Pillai (1889–1960), better known as Kesari Balakrishna Pillai, was a Malayalam writer, art and literary critic and journalist, considered by many as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Kerala. He was the eponymous founder of the newspaper, Kesari and was one of the three major figures in modern Malayalam literary criticism, along with Joseph Mundassery and M. P. Paul. Besides works such as Kesariyude Lokangal, Navalokam, Sankethika Nirupanangal Sahitya Nirupanangal, Rupamanjari, he also wrote a text in English under the title, Outlines of the Proto-Historic Chronology of Western Asia.
The Angamaly Firing was an incident that took place in Angamaly, Kerala, on 13 June 1959, when police opened fire on protesters who had been demonstrating against Kerala's communist government. Seven people were killed resulting in the intensification of Vimochana Samaram, a protest against the then communist led government.
T. K. Divakaran was a Malayali politician, trade unionist and a former member of Kerala Legislative Assembly. He was also a Minister in the E. M. S. Namboodiripad led Kerala Government.
The Indian state of Kerala has a strong presence of communist politics. Today, the two largest communist parties in Kerala politics are the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India, which, together with other left-wing parties, form the ruling Left Democratic Front alliance.
C.S. Gangadharan was an Indian freedom fighter, a Keralan member of the legislative assembly (MLA) and state president of the Kerala Freedom Fighters Association. He was a prominent leader of the Kerala Socialist Party (KSP).
The Cochin Legislative Council was a unicameral legislative body of the Cochin State that functioned from 1925 to 1948 before the merger of Cochin and Travancore to form the Travancore–Cochin state and the Travancore–Cochin Legislative Assembly.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly election of 1967 was held to constitute the fourth assembly in Kerala. This election, which was held after the 1965 one ended up in no government formation, resulted in the newly formed United Front alliance forming the government, while the INC, this time contesting alone was reduced to just 9 seats. E. M. S. Namboothiripad was sworn in as the Chief Minister on 6 March 1967.
United Front, known until 1971 as Mini Front (1970–1971) and as Maxi Front (1971–1979) thereafter, was a coalition of political parties in Kerala state, India, which was the ruling combine in the state from 1970 to 1979. The coalition was formed by five political parties immediately before the 1970 Kerala Legislative Assembly election. It saw the inclusion a few other parties in the following years.
Prabhatham was a Malayalam-language weekly newspaper published from Shoranur in Malabar, British India. Founded in 1935 and edited by E. M. S. Namboodiripad, it was the organ of the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) in Malabar, Travancore and Cochin. The newspaper was subjected to censorship right from its inception. It had to close down due to the heavy security imposed on the paper for publishing a poem on Bhagat Singh's death. The newspaper resumed publication in April 1938. It shifted to Calicut and continued as a weekly until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. Prabhatham was a short-lived newspaper both because of the colonial repression and because the CSP had lost its relevance after the formation of the Communist Party of India. The newspaper was instrumental in spreading socialist and communist ideologies in Kerala.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Kerala or CPI(M) Kerala is the Kerala state wing of CPIM. It is responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and campaigns within the state, as well as selecting candidates for local, state, and national elections. Currently, it is the governing party in the Kerala Legislative Assembly and has significant representation of the state in Rajya Sabha. The CPIM currently leads the LDF alliance.
