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1977 Indian general election in Kerala

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1977 Indian general election

← 1971 March 1977 1980 →

20 seats
  First party Second party
 
Leader K. Karunakaran E.M.S. Namboodiripad
Party INC CPI(M)
Alliance UDF LDF
Leader's seat - -
Last election 18 2
Seats won 20 0
Seat change Increase2 Decrease2
Percentage 54.2% 43.2%

The 1977 Parliamentary Election was held in the aftermath of the Emergency which was declared nationwide. At the national level, the Indian National Congress lost power for the first time in independent India, with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi losing from her own constituency and the Janata Party under Morarji Desai coming to power.

However, the trend was the reverse in Kerala with the INC-led United Front winning a landslide by registering victories in all 20 constituencies. It is the only election in Kerala where a coalition has whitewashed all the seats. In the concurrently held assembly election, the United Front won a colossal 111 out of 140 seats, the only state to elect a Congress-led government in that year. This seemingly unusual result was attributed to the good governance as well as performance of the outgoing Achutha Menon Ministry. Congress leaders K. Karunakaran and A.K. Antony would go on to assume the office of Chief Minister for the first time.

For the Communist Party of India (Marxist), this election remains its worst performance in a Lok Sabha election in Kerala. It also came at a time when the party came into power in West Bengal, marking the beginning of a 3 and a half decade long rule.

The two coalitions comprised the following parties-

United Front- Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India, Indian Union Muslim League, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Kerala Congress

Marxist Front- Communist Party of India (Marxist), Bharatiya Lok Dal, Kerala Congress (Pillai), Muslim League (Opposition)

Results

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No. Party Seats Won Seats Contested Votes Voteshare
United Front
1 Indian National Congress 11 11 25,79,745 29.1%
2 Communist Party of India 4 4 9,19,359 10.4%
3 Indian Union Muslim League 2 2 5,33,726 6.0%
4 Kerala Congress 2 2 4,91,674 5.6%
5 Revolutionary Socialist Party 1 1 2,72,378 3.1%
Total UF 20 20 47,96,882 54.2%
Marxist Front
1 Communist Party of India (Marxist) 0 9 18,00,193 20.3%
2 Bharatiya Lok Dal 0 3 6,37,206 7.2%
3 Independents 0 3 5,61,709 6.2%
4 Kerala Congress (Pillai) 0 3 5,26,937 5.9%
5 Muslim League (Opposition) 0 2 3,18,979 3.6%
Total 0 20 38,45,024 43.2%

Vote Share by alliance

  UDF (54.2%)
  LDF (43.2%)
  Other (2.6%)
No. Constituency Elected M.P. Party Majority Alliance
1 Kasaragod Kadannappalli Ramachandran INC 5,042 UF
2 Kannur C.K. Chandrappan CPI 12,877 UF
3 Vatakara K. P. Unnikrishnan INC 8,070 UF
4 Kozhikode V. A. Seyid Muhammad INC 13,704 UF
5 Manjeri Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait IUML 97,201 UF
6 Ponnani G. M. Banatwala IUML 1,17,546 UF
7 Palakkad A. Sunnasahib INC 44,820 UF
8 Ottapalam K. Kunhambu INC 35,721 UF
9 Thrissur K. A. Rajan CPI 37,506 UF
10 Mukundapuram A. C. George INC 4,220 UF
11 Ernakulam Henry Austin INC 7,285 UF
12 Muvattupuzha George J. Matthew KEC 44,820 UF
13 Kottayam Skaria Thomas KEC 68,695 UF
14 Idukki C. M. Stephen INC 79,257 UF
15 Alappuzha V. M. Sudheeran INC 64,016 UF
16 Mavelikkara B. K. Nair INC 56,552 UF
17 Adoor P.K. Kodiyan CPI 40,567 UF
18 Kollam N. Sreekantan Nair RSP 1,13,161 UF
19 Chirayankil Vayalar Ravi INC 60,925 UF
20 Thiruvananthapuram M. N. Govindan Nair CPI 69,822 UF
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