1960 Kerala Legislative Assembly election

The Kerala Legislative Assembly election of 1960 was the second assembly election in the Indian state of Kerala. The elections were held on 1 February 1960.[1]

1960 Kerala Legislative Assembly election
February 1960
All 126 seats in the Kerala Legislative Assembly
64 seats needed for a majority
Turnout85.72%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader R. Sankar E. M. S. Namboodiripad Pattom A. Thanu Pillai
Party INC CPI PSP
Alliance With PSP & IUML With Congress & IUML
Leader's seat Cannanore-I Pattambi Trivandrum-II
Last election 43 60 9
Seats won 63 29 20
Seat change 20 31 11
Popular vote 2,789,556 3,171,732 1,146,028
Percentage 34.42% 39.14% 14.14%
Swing 3.43% 3.86% 3.38%
Chief Minister before election

Vacant
President's rule

 Chief Minister

Pattom A. Thanu Pillai
PSP

Background

In the 1957 elections in Kerala, the Communist Party of India formed the government with the support of five independents.[2] But in 1959, the Central Government dismissed the democratically elected government through the controversial Article 356 of the Indian Constitution following "The Liberation Struggle",[3][4] even though the elected communist government was enjoying majority support within the legislature.[5] After a short period of the President's rule, fresh elections were called in 1960.

Constituencies

There were 114 legislative assembly constituencies in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, 1957. Out of these 102 were single member constituencies while the number of double member constituencies was 12. One constituency was reserved for Schedule Caste. There were 64,77,665 electors in single member constituencies, while in double member constituencies there were 15,63,333 electors. Total 312 candidates contested for the 126 seats of the 114 constituencies in the Assembly.[6] Poll percentage was 85.72%, an increase of 20.23% from 65.49% in 1957 assembly elections.

Political parties

Four national parties, Communist Party of India, Indian National Congress, Praja Socialist Party and Bharatiya Jana Sangha along with the state party Muslim League took part in the assembly election.[6] In these elections, Indian National Congress, Praja Socialist Party and Indian Union Muslim League formed a pre-poll alliance to counter the Communist Party of India.[1] Together they fielded 125 candidates and supported an independent candidate, while the Communist Party of India fielded 108 candidates and gave party support to 16 independents.[1]

Results
 Summary of results of the 1960 Kerala Legislative Assembly election [6][7]
Political PartyFlagSeats
Contested		WonNet Change
in seats		% of
Seats		 VotesVote %Change in
vote %		Vote % in
contested seats
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 30New05,2770.07New3.28
Communist Party of India 10829 3123.023,171,73239.14 3.8643.79
Indian National Congress 8063 2050.002,789,55634.42 3.4345.37
Praja Socialist Party 3320 1115.871,146,02814.14 3.3838.41
IUML 1211New8.73401,9254.96New47.79
Independent 615 114.17488,6995.93-5.6113.96
Total Seats126 ( 0)Voters9,604,331Turnout8,232,572 (85.72 %)

Government formation

Congress and Praja Socialist Party alliance got the majority[6] in the election and hence formed the government. Pattom A. Thanu Pillai of the Praja Socialist Party became the chief minister[8] and R. Sankar of the Indian National Congress became the deputy chief minister on 22 February 1960, with eleven council ministers.[1]

Pattam A. Thanu Pillai resigned on 26 September 1962 after he was appointed as the Governor of Punjab and R. Sankar became the first Congress Chief Minister of Kerala.

See also

References
  1. "History of Kerala Legislature". Kerala Government. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  2. Thomas Johnson Nossiter (1 January 1982). Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation. University of California Press. pp. 122–123. ISBN 978-0-520-04667-2.
  3. "Fresh light on 'Liberation Struggle'". The Hindu. 12 February 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  4. Visalakshi, Dr. N.R. (January–March 1966). "Presidents Rule in Kerala". The Indian Journal of Political Science. 27 (1): 55–68. JSTOR 41854147.
  5. Sethy, Rabindra Kumar (2003). Political Crisis and President's Rule in an Indian State. APH Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 9788176484633.
  6. "Statistical Report on General Election, 1960 : To the Legislative Assembly of Kerala" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  7. Thomas Johnson Nossiter (1 January 1982). Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation. University of California Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-520-04667-2.
  8. "Kerala Legislature – Chief Ministers". Kerala Government. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
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