The elections to the Eighth Kerala Assembly were held on March 23, 1987. The UDF and the LDF were the two major political fronts in the arena. The UDF had the INC(I),

IUML The Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the I. U. M. L. or the League) is an Indian political party primarily based in the Indian state of Kerala. It is recognised as a State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India. The fir ...

, KC(J), KC(M), NDP (P), SRP(S) and the RSP(S) as its constituents. The LDF consisted of the

CPI(M) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

, CPI, RSP, IC(S), Janata Party and the

Lok Dal Lokdal or Lok Dal is an Indian political party based on agriculture policies, founded by former prime minister of India Charan Singh. See also * Girraj Kishore Mahaur, former MLA of Lok Dal * Lok Dal (Charan) * Rashtriya Lok Dal Rashtr ...

Background

Kerala saw polarisation and splits of political forces since the formation of the United Democratic Front Ministry on May 24, 1982. The merger of the two factions of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

, the INC (I) and the INC (A), in November 1982 marked the beginning of the political polarization. Another important event was the reunion of the

and the AIML in August 1985. Before the election, the

Kerala Congress Kerala Congress is an Indian political party founded at Kottayam, Kerala in October, 1964, by a block of former Indian National Congress leaders led by K. M. George. The party is primarily active in central Kerala. The establishment of Kerala ...

once again split into two; each faction continuing to remain in the UDF. A faction of the

Congress (S) Indian Congress (Socialist) (IC(S)) also known as Congress (Secular) was a political party in India between 1978 and 1986. The party was formed through a split in the Indian National Congress. Initially the party was known as the Indian Nation ...

and the Janata (G) also joined the INC (I). In the meantime, there were splits in the

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

and the Socialist Republican Party (SRP). The NDP group was led by Kidangoor Gopalakrishna Pillai and the SRP faction. led by Mr. Vijayarajan left the UDF, whereas the other factions of these parties stood with the Left Democratic Front. The CPI-M took disciplinary action against their MLA, Mr. M.V. Raghavan. Consequently, he launched a new party, Communist Marxist Party (CMP). The emergence of a third front, the

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

-Hindu Munnani Front, was another political development.

Results

Though the elections had been declared for all the 140 constituencies, the elections to two constituencies -

Vamanapuram Vamanapuram is a village in Thiruvananthapuram district in the state of Kerala, India. It is the location of Shri 'Vamana', one of the ten incarnations of Maha Vishnu. The Lord Vamana temple is located here, and hence the name Vamanapuram, m ...

and

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south ...

were countermanded following the demise of two independent candidates. While the election to the 138 constituencies was held on March 23, the elections in the other two constituencies were delayed until June 2, 1987. The LDF secured a decisive majority in the House securing 78 seats. The UDF won 61 seats. An independent won at

Ettumanoor Ettumanoor, sometimes spelled Ettumanur, is a major town and municipality in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India, located 11 kilometers north-east of Kottayam city, 50 kilometers south of Cochin, and 70 kilometers south of Cochin Internation ...

. The third front could not open an account.

Party Wise Results

Constituency Wise Results

References

External links

Kerala Assembly Election DATABASE
{{Kerala Niyamasabha elections

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 Ca ...

State Assembly elections in Kerala 1980s in Kerala