Kerala Socialist Party (KSP) is a political party in India founded under the leadership of

Mathai Manjooran Mathai Manjooran (13 October 1912 – 14 January 1970) 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. ...

on 21 September 1947 at

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

. It began as a small party, but its front-line leaders compelled the party deep into the public imagination. The party became part of the coalition that formed the first democratically elected communist government in the world after San Marino. Within the short time span of two decade and a half of its coming into existence KSP came to play a larger-than-life role in the political landscape of the post-independence

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

State. Among its founding members other than Mathai Manjooran were John Manjooran, M.T. Lazar,

N. Sreekantan Nair N. Sreekantan Nair (15 July 1915 – 20 July 1983) was an Indian politician, independence activist, trade unionist and writer who served as a Member of Parliament for Kollam. Early life He was born on 15 July 1915 as the only son of N. Neelak ...

, M.P. Menon (who later went on to become a Judge of the High Court of Kerala), K. Balakrishnan (son of the veteran Congress leader C. Kesavan), K.C.K.M. Mather, P. K. Balakrishnan, K.R. Chummar, G. Janardhana Kurup, T.P. Chakrapani, A.P. Pillai to name only some of the prominent leaders. In 1949 October, within 2 years of its inception the party underwent a split and

, Baby John and K. Balakrishnan joined the Revolutionary Socialist Party, then a small socialist party confined to Bengal. It was one among the seven parties that came together to form the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...

coalition government in Kerala under the chief ministership of E.M.S. Namboodiripad in 1967 to 1969. It won only one seat in the

1970 Kerala Legislative Assembly election Elections were held on 17 September 1970 to elect members of the fourth Niyamasabha. The United Front, led by CPI, IUML, RSP, and with the external support from INC, won plurality of seats and formed the government, with C. Achutha Menon as the ...

, which it contested within a new alliance led by the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

, no longer as part of the reconstituted

(initially known as the "Mini Front") which ruled Kerala for 1970–1979. Other prominent leaders of the KSP were as follows: * Mamman Kannanthanam * Cherian Manjooran * Varkey Unnikkunnel * Baby John * M.L. George * P. Sankarankutty * S.S. Das * K.G. Nath * Karunakara Menon * A. Damodaran * C.N. Sreekandan Nair * C.S. Gangadharan * Prakkulam Bhasi * Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai * C. Vivekanandan. * Sadananda Shastri * L.G. Pai * T.K. Divakaran * U. Neelakhandan Important members and fellow travellers of the KSP: * Pozhamangalath George alias P P Varuthukutty (Secretary, Tata Employees Union) * M.K. Menon (Vilasini) * K. M. Ro

References

Sources

*''Kaalathinu Munpae Nadanna Manjooran'' by K.M. Roy *''Keraleeyathayum Mattum'' (Published by D.C. Books)_ by P. K. Balakrishnan. * * * Defunct political parties in Kerala Political parties in Travancore–Cochin Defunct socialist parties in India Political parties established in 1947 1947 establishments in India {{Kerala-stub