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All 140 seats in the Kerala Legislative Assembly 71 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 27,503,768 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 75.60% ( 1.93 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Constituency-wise result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held in Kerala on 6 April 2021 to elect 140 members to the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly. The results were declared on 2 May.[1]
The election saw the incumbent Left Democratic Front (LDF) retaining power with 99 seats, 8 more than in the previous election, marking the first time that an alliance won consecutive terms in the state since its 1977 election.[2] The United Democratic Front (UDF) won the remaining 41 seats, 6 less than in the previous election. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) received a dip in vote share and lost their lone seat.[3] Pinarayi Vijayan became the first Chief Minister of Kerala to be re-elected after completing a full, five-year term in office.[4][5]
Background
Kerala has a unicameral house of legislation, Niyamasabha, consisting of 140 members elected from individual constituencies and one nominated member from the Anglo-Indian community. Members are elected for a period of five years, unless the assembly is dissolved earlier. Fourteen and two constituencies respectively are reserved for members belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). The tenure of the members of the 14th Legislative Assembly in the state ended on 1 June 2021.[6]
As with all assembly elections in India, Kerala uses first-past-the-post election system. Voters are given a provision to vote NOTA (None Of The Above). State Election Commission, Kerala conducts the assembly election and is overseen by Election Commission of India.[7]
Changes in alliance compositions
In the previous election in 2016, the LDF bagged 91 seats in the assembly, defeating the incumbent UDF, led by the Indian National Congress (INC), which could only win 47 seats in the election. The remaining seat was won by an independent, P. C. George, who later formed the party Kerala Janapaksham (Secular).[8]
After being suspended from UDF, Kerala Congress (M), led by Jose K. Mani, joined LDF. However, a faction of the party, led by P. J. Joseph, remained in UDF and formed Kerala Congress.[9][10]
Another major change that occurred after 2016 was the entry of 4 parties, including Loktantrik Janata Dal and Indian National League, into LDF.[11]
2020 local elections
In the 2020 Kerala local elections held in December, LDF performed strong, including a lead in 11 out of 14 district panchayats in the state.[12]
The induction of Kerala Congress (M) gave inroads to LDF in the traditional UDF strongholds of Kottayam district and nearby areas with large number of Syrian Christian voters.[13]
After the local elections, A. Vijayaraghavan, the new state secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist), repeatedly alleged that UDF had secret alliance with the fundamentalist organisations like Jamaat-e-Islami.[14][15]
2021
In February 2021, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Mani C. Kappan, the sitting MLA of Pala constituency, switched to the UDF after the LDF denied his request to contest in Pala constituency in the election. This resulted in his expulsion from NCP, following which he formed a new political party named Nationalist Congress Kerala (NCK).[16]
In March 2021, R. Balasankar, leader of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from Alappuzha, claimed that the Kerala leadership of BJP had struck a secret deal with CPI(M) to weaken and ensure the defeat of UDF, a claim denied by BJP.[17][18] On 17 March 2021, P. C. Thomas announced the merger of his party with P. J. Joseph's Kerala Congress, with him being its Deputy Chairman.[19]
Schedule
| Election event | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| Date of issue of gazette notification | 12/03/2021 | Friday |
| Last date for filing nomination | 19/03/2021 | Friday |
| Scrutiny of nomination | 20/03/2021 | Saturday |
| Last date of withdrawal of candidature | 22/03/2021 | Monday |
| Date of polling | 06/04/2021 | Tuesday |
| Date of counting | 02/05/2021 | Sunday |
| Group of voters | Voters population |
|---|---|
| Male | 1,32,83,724 |
| Female | 1,41,62,025 |
| Transgender | 290 |
| Total voters | 2,74,46,039 |
Parties and alliances
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is a coalition of centre-left to left-wing political parties, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM). The United Democratic Front (UDF) is an alliance of centrist to centre-left political parties led by the Indian National Congress (INC). The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a coalition of centrist to right-wing parties.
Left Democratic Front
An alliance of centre-left to left-wing political parties, the LDF is currently in power. The coalition consists of CPI(M), CPI and several smaller parties.
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