United Democratic Front (Kerala)

The United Democratic Front (UDF) is a pre-poll alliance of Centre[2] to centre-left[3] political parties in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the other being CPI(M)-led LDF, each of which has been in power alternately for the last four decades.[4] UDF has won elections to the State Legislature of Kerala in the years 1982,[5] 1991,[6] 2001,[7] and 2011.[8] The alliance currently acts as the main opposition in the state legislature of Kerala post-May 2016 election. UDF consists of Indian National Congress, Indian Union Muslim League, Kerala Congress (Joseph), Revolutionary Socialist Party, and a variety of other smaller parties. The front follows the principle of Social democracy.[1] It is a part of United Progressive Alliance at national level.

For the political alliance in Mizoram, see United Democratic Front (Mizoram).

United Democratic Front
AbbreviationUDF
ChairpersonRamesh Chennithala
SecretaryJohnny Nellore
FounderK. Karunakaran
Founded1978 (1978)
HeadquartersIndira Bhavan, Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
IdeologyBig tent
Factions
Social democracy[1]
Political positionCentre[2] to centre-left[3]
Seats in Lok Sabha
18 / 20
Seats in Rajya Sabha
3 / 9
Seats in Kerala Legislative Assembly
42 / 140

The front was created by the Indian National Congress (then known as Congress-Indira) party leader K. Karunakaran in 1978, as a successor to the erstwhile United Front.[9] In the last elections conducted to the state legislature in 2016, UDF managed to win 47 out of 140 seats to the assembly,[10] and Ramesh Chennithala was elected as the leader of opposition.[11] In 2019 Indian general election, UDF won 19 out of 20 seats in the state.

History

The coalition politics of Kerala began with the second election held to the state legislative assembly in 1960.[12] 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 the other by CPI(M).[12] The front led by Indian National Congress was initially called United Front, which had ruled the state from 1970 to 1979.[13] The United Democratic Front (UDF) was formed as successor to the United Front just before 1980 state election.[14] UDF first came into power in Kerala in 1982 under K. Karunakaran.[5] It led the Government of Kerala in 1982–87 (K. Karunakaran), 1991–96 (K. Karunakaran and A. K. Antony), 2001–06 (A. K. Antony and Oommen Chandy), and 2011–16 (Oommen Chandy). The alliance currently serves as the opposition in the Kerala Assembly.

The parties in the alliance and their representation in Kerala Legislative Assembly are currently as follows:

No. Party Legislative

Assembly Seats

1 Indian National Congress 21
2 Indian Union Muslim League 18
3 Kerala Congress (Joseph) 2
4 Kerala Congress (Jacob) 1
5 Revolutionary Socialist Party 0
6 Communist Marxist Party (John) 0
7 All India Forward Bloc 0
8 Bharatiya National Janata Dal 0

Allies

Founding allies (1978)
Kerala Council of Ministers (UDF Ministry, 1982-87)

New allies (c. 1979-81)

Current allies
No. Party
1 Indian National Congress
2 Indian Union Muslim League
3 Kerala Congress (Joseph)
4 Revolutionary Socialist Party
5 Kerala Congress (Jacob)
6 Communist Marxist Party (John)
7 All India Forward Bloc
8 Bharatiya National Janata Dal

Former allies
Party Withdrawal Year Reason for Withdrawal/Dismissal
National Democratic Party 1996 Party dissolved
Socialist Janata (Democratic) 2014 Merged with Janata Dal (United)
Kerala Congress (B) 2015 Withdrew from the alliance
Communist Marxist Party (Aravindakshan) 2016 Withdrew from the alliance
Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy 2016 Dismissed from the alliance
Janata Dal (United) 2018 Withdrew from the alliance
Kerala Congress (M) - Jose K. Mani Faction 2020 Dismissed from the alliance

Chief Ministers
Chief Ministers

Elected members

State Legislature
Map of Kerala showing 2016 State Legislative Assembly Election Results

The United Democratic Front currently has 42 members in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, which consists of 140 elected seats in total. The alliance is the opposition in the Assembly.

Key

  INC     IUML     KEC     KC(J)  

No. Constituency Member Party
Kasaragod district
1ManjeshwaramM. C. KamaruddinIUML
2KasaragodN. A. NellikkunnuIUML
Kannur district
3IrikkurK. C. JosephINC
4AzhikodeK.M. ShajiIUML
5PeravoorSunny JosephINC
Wayanad district
6Sulthan BatheryI. C. BalakrishnanINC
Kozhikode district
7KuttiadyParakkal AbdullaIUML
8Kozhikode SouthM. K. MuneerIUML
Malappuram district
9KondottyT. V. IbrahimIUML
10EranadP. K. BasheerIUML
11WandoorA. P. Anil KumarINC
12ManjeriM. UmmerIUML
13PerinthalmannaManjalamkuzhi AliIUML
14MankadaT. A. Ahmed KabirIUML
15MalappuramP. UbaidullaIUML
16VengaraK. N. A. KhaderIUML
17VallikkunnuP. Abdul HameedIUML
18TirurangadiP. K. Abdu RabbIUML
19TirurC. MammuttyIUML
20KottakkalK. K. Abid Hussain ThangalIUML
Palakkad district
21ThrithalaV. T. BalramINC
22MannarkkadN. SamsudheenIUML
23PalakkadShafi ParambilINC
Thrissur district
24WadakkancheryAnil AkkaraINC
Ernakulam district
25PerumbavoorEldhose KunnappillyINC
26AngamalyRoji M. JohnINC
27AluvaAnwar SadathINC
28KalamasseryV. K. EbrahimkunjuIUML
29ParavurV. D. SatheesanINC
30ErnakulamT. J. VinodINC
31ThrikkakaraP. T. ThomasINC
32KunnathunadV. P. SajeendranINC
33PiravomAnoop JacobKC (J)
Idukki district
34ThodupuzhaP. J. JosephKEC
Kottayam district
35KaduthuruthyMonce JosephKEC
36KottayamThiruvanchoor RadhakrishnanINC
37PuthuppallyOommen ChandyINC
Alappuzha district
38AroorShanimol UsmanINC
39HaripadRamesh ChennithalaINC
Thiruvananthapuram district
40ThiruvananthapuramV. S. SivakumarINC
41AruvikkaraK. S. SabarinathanINC
42KovalamM. VincentINC

Lok Sabha
Map of Kerala showing 2019 Indian General Election Results

Out of the 20 Lok Sabha (House of the People) constituencies in Kerala, 19 were won by the United Democratic Front in 2019 Lok Sabha election. Later when the Kerala Congress (M) left UDF to join LDF in 2020, the number of seats of UDF fell into 18. The following is the list of United Democratic Front Parliament (Lok Sabha) members from the state of Kerala:

Key

  INC     IUML     RSP  

No. Parliamentary Constituency Member (MP) Party Affiliation
1KasaragodRajmohan UnnithanINC
2KannurK. SudhakaranINC
3VatakaraK. MuraleedharanINC
4WayanadRahul GandhiINC
5KozhikodeM. K. RaghavanINC
6MalappuramP. K. KunhalikuttyIUML
7PonnaniE. T. Muhammed BasheerIUML
8PalakkadV. K. SreekandanINC
9AlathurRamya HaridasINC
10ThrissurT. N. PrathapanINC
11ChalakudyBenny BehananINC
12ErnakulamHibi EdenINC
13IdukkiDean KuriakoseINC
14MavelikkaraKodikunnil SureshINC
15PathanamthittaAnto Antony PunnathaniyilINC
16KollamN. K. PremachandranRSP
17AttingalAdoor PrakashINC
18ThiruvananthapuramShashi TharoorINC

See also

References
  1. Heller, Patrick (18 April 2020). "A virus, social democracy, and dividends for Kerala". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  2. "India's election results were more than a 'Modi wave'". Washington Post. Retrieved 31 May 2019. The BJP's primary rival, the centrist Indian National Congress (Congress), won only 52 seats.
  3. Saez, Lawrence; Sinha, Aseema (2010). "Political cycles, political institutions and public expenditure in India, 1980–2000". British Journal of Political Science. 40 (1): 91–113. doi:10.1017/s0007123409990226.
  4. "Election history of Kerala". CEO Kerala. Chief Election Officer, Kerala.
  5. 9 October; June 15, 2013 ISSUE DATE; August 8, 1982UPDATED; Ist, 2014 17:49. "Congress(I) leader Karunakaran sworn in as Kerala CM". India Today. Retrieved 19 May 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. Isaac, T. M. Thomas; Kumar, S. Mohana (1991). "Kerala Elections, 1991: Lessons and Non-Lessons". Economic and Political Weekly. 26 (47): 2691–2704. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4398338.
  7. Menon, Girish (14 May 2001). "LDF swept out in Kerala". Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  8. Anantha Krishnan (13 May 2011). "This story is from May 13, 2011 Kerala assembly elections 2011: UDF wins by narrow margin". Times of India. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  9. Who was K Karunakaran? - NDTV
  10. "As it happened: TMC, AIADMK retain power; BJP takes Assam, Left Kerala". Hindustan Times. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  11. "Congress Elects Ramesh Chennithala as Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly".
  12. "India". Australia: Refugee Review Tribunal. 19 March 2007. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via archive.is.
  13. Luke Koshi, Saritha S. Balan (19 June 2017). "Kerala chronicles: When a coalition of 7 political parties came together only to fall apart". The News Minute. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  14. "Kerala: Tenuous existence". India Today. 30 September 1979. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
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