Editing Left Democratic Front (section)

== History ==
{{See also|Communism in Kerala}}

=== Early years (1957–1979) ===
[[File:Kerala Council of Ministers 1957 EMS.jpg|thumb|center|420x420px|[[First Namboodiripad ministry|1st cabinet ministry]] of Kerala led by [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]] (1957)]]
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.<ref name="UN1" /> [[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 Party of India|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.<ref name="tornquist91">{{Cite journal |last=Olle Törnquist |year=1991 |title=Communists and democracy: Two Indian cases and one debate |url=http://criticalasianstudies.org/assets/files/bcas/v23n02.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars |publisher=Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=63–76 |doi=10.1080/14672715.1991.10413152 |issn=0007-4810 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811034858/http://criticalasianstudies.org/assets/files/bcas/v23n02.pdf |archive-date=11 August 2011 |access-date=20 September 2011 |quote=The first democratically elected communist-led government in India actually came to power in 1957 in the southwest-Indian state of Kerala. Two years later this government was undemocratically toppled-by the union government and the Congress-I party with Indira Gandhi in the forefront. But the communists were reelected and led several of the following state governments.}}</ref><ref name="SinghKarafin2009">{{Cite book |last1=Sarina Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KnLFpjEHpUC |title=South India |last2=Amy Karafin |last3=Anirban Mahapatra |date=1 September 2009 |publisher=Lonely Planet |isbn=978-1-74179-155-6 |access-date=6 January 2013 |archive-date=24 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230924112157/https://books.google.com/books?id=8KnLFpjEHpUC |url-status=live }}</ref> It was one of the first Communist governments to be democratically elected, after Communist successes in the [[1945 San Marino general election|1945 elections]] in the [[Republic of San Marino]], a [[European microstate|microstate in Europe, and the 1946 Czechoslovak elections]].[https://www.ssag.sk/studovna/files/ELECTIONS-OF-1946.pdf]<ref name="Hindu">{{Cite news |last=K.G. Kumar |date=12 April 2007 |title=50 years of development |work=The Hindu |url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/50-years-of-development/article1655056.ece?ref=archive |access-date=30 August 2013 |archive-date=6 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106032608/http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/50-years-of-development/article1655056.ece?ref=archive |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Desai2006">{{Cite book |last=Manali Desai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60m9znJQmmkC&pg=PA142 |title=State Formation and Radical Democracy in India |date=27 November 2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-96774-4 |page=142 |access-date=31 August 2013 |archive-date=24 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230924112157/https://books.google.com/books?id=60m9znJQmmkC&pg=PA142 |url-status=live }}</ref> The coalition politics of Kerala began with [[1960 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|second election]] held to the state legislative assembly in 1960.<ref name="UN1">{{Cite web |date=19 March 2007 |title=India |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,AUS_RRT,,IND,,4b6fe22b5,0.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416005158/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,AUS_RRT,,IND,,4b6fe22b5,0.html |archive-date=16 April 2013 |access-date=11 August 2019 |publisher=Australia: Refugee Review Tribunal |via=archive.is}}</ref> The [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] first came into power in Kerala in 1967, under [[United Front (1967–1969, Kerala)|Seven party front]], which was an alliance of CPI(M), [[Communist Party of India|CPI]], [[Indian Union Muslim League|IUML]], and four other parties.<ref>Luke Koshi, Saritha S. Balan (19 June 2017). [https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-chronicles-when-coalition-7-political-parties-came-together-only-fall-apart-63905 "Kerala chronicles: When a coalition of 7 political parties came together only to fall apart"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419205848/https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-chronicles-when-coalition-7-political-parties-came-together-only-fall-apart-63905 |date=19 April 2021 }}. ''The News Minute''. Retrieved 1 January 2018.</ref> 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 [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|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]].<ref name="UN1" /> 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) ===
[[File:Kerala Council of Ministers 1987 EK Nayanar.jpg|thumb|left|420x420px|[[Second E. K. Nayanar ministry|2nd Nayanar Ministry (1987)]]]]
LDF first came into power in [[1980 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|1980 election]] under the leadership of [[E. K. Nayanar]] sworn in as the [[Chief Minister of Kerala]] on 26 March 1980<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History of Kerala legislature – Government of Kerala, India |url=https://kerala.gov.in/history-of-kerala-legislature |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814235820/https://kerala.gov.in/history-of-kerala-legislature |archive-date=14 August 2020 |access-date=2019-05-26 |website=kerala.gov.in |ref=history-of-kerala-legislature}}</ref> 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 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|1980 election]], the power has been clearly alternating between the two alliances till the [[2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|2016]].<ref name="UN1" /> 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 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|2016]]. The [[1987 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|1987]], [[1996 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|1996]] elections led [[E. K. Nayanar]], and the [[2006 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|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 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|2016 election]] led by [[Pinarayi Vijayan]] and had a historic re-election in [[2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election|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.<ref name="The Economic Times"/>

=== List of LDF Conveners ===
{{multiple image
 | header = Founders of the LDF
 | direction = horizontal 
 | caption_align = center
 | image1 = EMS Namboodiripad 2001 stamp of India (cropped).jpg
 | width1 = 150
 | caption1 = '''[[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]]'''
 | image2   = P.K. Vasudevan Nair.jpg
 | width2    = 150
 | caption2 = '''[[P. K. Vasudevan Nair]]'''
 |background color = #FFC6C4
 |align = right
}}
{{multiple image
| align     = right
| caption_align = center
| direction = vertical
| width     = 220
| image1    = E.K.Nayanar 1.jpg
| caption1  = '''[[E. K. Nayanar]]'''<br />Longest serving [[List of chief ministers of Kerala|Chief minister of Kerala]]
}}
{|class="wikitable sortable"  text-align:center"
! data-sort-type=number ! Style="background-color:#FF0000; color:white"| No
! Style="background-color:#FF0000; color:white"| Portrait
! Style="background-color:#FF0000; color:white"| Name
! Style="background-color:#FF0000; color:white"| Year
|-
!1
|[[File:No image available.svg|80px]]
|P. V. Kunjikannan
|1980–1986
|-
!2
|
|[[T. K. Ramakrishnan]]
|1986–1987
|-
!3
|[[File:Comrade MM Lawrence.jpg|80px]]
|[[M. M. Lawrence]]
|1987–1998
|-
!4
|[[File:V. S. Achuthanandan.JPG|80px]]
|[[V. S. Achuthanandan]]
|1998–2001
|-
!5
|[[File:No image available.svg|80px]]
|[[Paloli Mohammed Kutty]]
|2001–2006
|-
!6
|[[File:Vaikom viswan.JPG|80px]]
|[[Vaikom Viswan]]
|2006–2018
|-
!7
|[[File:A.vijayaraghavan4.jpg|80px]]
|[[A. Vijayaraghavan]]
|2018–2022
|-
!8
|[[File:E P Jayarajan Minister.jpg|80px]]
|[[E. P. Jayarajan]]
|2022–2024<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2024-08-31 |title=E P Jayarajan no longer LDF convener, Ramakrishnan will replace him: CPI(M) |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/e-p-jayarajan-ldf-convener-ramakrishnan-replace-him-cpim-9543289/ |access-date=2024-09-05 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>
|-
!9
|[[File:T.P. Ramakrishnan.jpg|80px]]
|[[T. P. Ramakrishnan]]
|2024–present<ref name=":1" />
|}