A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Left Democratic Front | |
|---|---|
_Logo.svg){kind=logo} | |
| 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, Kerala, India |
| Ideology | Big tent Majority: Communism[1] Faction: Welfarism[2] Social democracy[3] Progressivism[4] |
| Political position | Centre-left to Left-wing[5] |
| Seats in Lok Sabha | 2 / 20 |
| Seats in Rajya Sabha | 7 / 9 |
| Seats in Kerala Legislative Assembly | 99 / 140 |
| Website | |
| ldfkeralam | |
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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.[6] It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the other being Indian National Congress-led United Democratic Front, each of which has been in power alternately for the last four decades.[7] LDF has won the elections to the State Legislature of Kerala in the years 1980,[8] 1987,[9] 1996,[10] 2006,[11] 2016[12] and had a historic re-election in 2021[13] where an incumbent government was re-elected for first time in 40 years.[14] LDF has won 6 out of 10 elections since the formation of the alliance in 1980. The alliance consists of CPI(M), CPI and various smaller parties.[15]
LDF has been in power in the State Legislature of Kerala under E. K. Nayanar (1980–1981, 1987–1991, 1996–2001),[16] V. S. Achuthanandan (2006–2011),[17] Pinarayi Vijayan (2016–current).[18] E. K. Nayanar served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for 11 years and later became the longest serving Chief Minister of Kerala.[19]
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.[20]
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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.[21] 1957 Kerala Legislative Assembly election 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-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.[22][23] 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.[24][25] The coalition politics of Kerala began with second election held to the state legislative assembly in 1960.[21] 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.[26] 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).
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 Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India and the United Democratic Front (UDF), led by the Indian National Congress.[21] 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)
LDF first came into power in 1980 election under the leadership of E. K. Nayanar sworn in as the Chief Minister of Kerala on 26 March 1980[27] for the first time in 1980. He formed government with the support of Congress (A) under A. K. Antony and Kerala Congress under K. M. Mani, Nayanar 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.[21] 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 2016. The 1987, 1996 elections led E. K. Nayanar, and the 2006 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 Pinarayi Vijayan 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.[20]
List of LDF Conveners
.jpg)
| No | Portrait | Name | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
P. V. Kunjikannan | 1980–1986 |
| 2 | T. K. Ramakrishnan | 1986–1987 | |
| 3 | 
|
M. M. Lawrence | 1987–1998 |
| 4 | 
|
V. S. Achuthanandan | 1998–2001 |
| 5 |
|
Paloli Mohammed Kutty | 2001–2006 |
| 6 | 
|
Vaikom Viswan | 2006–2018 |
| 7 | 
|
A. Vijayaraghavan | 2018–2022 |
| 8 | 
|
E. P. Jayarajan | 2022–present |
Current members
| Party | Party Symbol | Party Flag | Base | Kerala Unit Leader | Seats in Kerala Legislative Assembly | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPI(M) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | _election_symbol_-_Hammer_Sickle_and_Star.svg) |
|
National Party | 
|
M. V. Govindan | 62 / 140
| |
| CPI | Communist Party of India |  |
|
State Party | 
|
Binoy Viswam | 17 / 140
| |
| KEC(M) | Kerala Congress (M) |  |
|
State Party | 
|
Jose K. Mani | 5 / 140
| |
| JDS(T) | Janata Dal Secular (Thomas)[30] |  |
State Party | 
|
Mathew T. Thomas | 2 / 140
| ||
| NCP(SP) | Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) | 
|
State Party | 
|
P. C. Chacko | 2 / 140
| ||
| RJD | Rashtriya Janata Dal |  |
|
State Party | 
|
M. V. Shreyams Kumar | 1 / 140
| |
| KEC(B) | Kerala Congress (B) |  |
|
State Party | 
|
K. B. Ganesh Kumar | 1 / 140
| |
| INL | Indian National League |  |
|
State Party |
|
Ahamed Devarkovil | 1 / 140
| |
| CON(S) | Congress (Secular) |  |
_Flag.png)
|
State Party | 
|
Kadannappalli Ramachandran | 1 / 140
| |
| JKC | Janadhipathya Kerala Congress |  |
|
State Party | 
|
Antony Raju | 1 / 140
| |
| KEC(S) | Kerala Congress (Skaria Thomas) |
|
State Party |
|
Binoy Joseph | 0 / 140
| ||
- RSP(L) (leader – Kovoor Kunjumon)
- NSC (leader – P. T. A. Rahim)
- National League (leader – Abdul Wahab)