1977 Indian general election in Kerala

Created by HwaNormanby23
Last edited March 26, 2026

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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)

Parties and alliances

United Front

No. Party Election Symbol Seats contested
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:white" |1. Indian National Congress 11
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:white" |2. Communist Party of India
Star
Star
4
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:white" |3. Indian Union Muslim League 2
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:white" |4. Kerala Congress 2
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:white" |5. Revolutionary Socialist Party 1

Marxist Front

No. Party Election Symbol Seats contested
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:white" |1. Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Key
Key
9
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:white" |2. Bharatiya Lok Dal 3
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:white" |3. Kerala Congress (Pillai) 3
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:white" |4. Muslim League (Opposition) 2
style="text-align:center; background:Template:Party color;color:black" |5. Independent 3

List of Candidates

Constituency colspan="3" bgcolor=Template:Party color| colspan="3" bgcolor=Template:Party color|
United Front Marxist Front
1 Kasaragod Template:Party name with colour Kadannappalli Ramachandran Template:Party name with colour Ramanna Rai
2 Cannanore Template:Party name with colour C. K. Chandrappan Template:Party name with colour O. Bharathan
3 Badagara Template:Party name with colour K. P. Unnikrishnan Template:Party name with colour Arangil Sreedharan
4 Calicut Template:Party name with colour V. A. Seyid Muhammad Template:Party name with colour M. Kamalam
5 Manjeri Template:Party name with colour Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait Template:Party name with colour B. M. Hussain
6 Ponnani Template:Party name with colour G. M. Banatwala Template:Party name with colour M. Moideen Kutty Haji
7 Palghat Template:Party name with colour A. Sunnasahib Template:Party name with colour T. Sivadasa Menon
8 Ottapalam (SC) Template:Party name with colour K. Kunhambu Template:Party name with colour C. K. Chakrapani
9 Trichur Template:Party name with colour K. A. Rajan Template:Party name with colour Aravindakshan
10 Mukundapuram Template:Party name with colour A. C. George Template:Party name with colour S. C. S. Menon
11 Ernakulam Template:Party name with colour Henry Austin Template:Party name with colour K. N. Raveendranath
12 Muvattupuzha Template:Party name with colour George J. Mathew Template:Party name with colour K. M. Joseph Kuruppamadham
13 Kottayam Template:Party name with colour Skariah Thomas Template:Party name with colour Varkey George
14 Idukki Template:Party name with colour C. M. Stephen Template:Party name with colour M. M. Joseph
15 Alleppey Template:Party name with colour V. M. Sudheeran Template:Party name with colour E. Balanandan
16 Mavelikara Template:Party name with colour B. K. Nair Template:Party name with colour B. G. Verghese
17 Adoor (SC) Template:Party name with colour P. K. Kodiyan Template:Party name with colour K. Chandrasekharan Shastri
18 Quilon Template:Party name with colour N. Sreekantan Nair Template:Party name with colour N. Rajagopalan
19 Chirayinkil Template:Party name with colour Vayalar Ravi Template:Party name with colour K. Anirudhan
20 Trivandrum Template:Party name with colour M. N. Govindan Nair Template:Party name with colour P. Viswambharan

Results

Results by Party/Alliance

Alliance/ Party Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Contested Won +/−
rowspan="6" Template:Party color cell UF Template:Party color cell INC 25,79,745 29.13 11 11
Template:Party color cell CPI 9,19,359 10.38 4 4
Template:Party color cell IUML 5,33,726 6.03 2 2
Template:Party color cell KEC 4,91,674 5.55 2 2
Template:Party color cell RSP 2,72,378 3.08 1 1
Total 47,96,882 54.17 Template:Steady 20 20 Template:Steady
rowspan="6" Template:Party color cell MF Template:Party color cell CPI(M) 18,00,193 20.33 9 0
Template:Party color cell BLD 6,37,206 7.20 3 0
Template:Party color cell KC(P) 5,26,937 5.95 3 0
Template:Party color cell MLO 3,18,979 3.60 2 0
Template:Party color cell IND 5,61,709 6.34 3 0
Total 38,45,024 43.42 Template:Steady 20 0 Template:Steady
Template:Party color cell Others 8,305 0.09 Template:Steady 1 0 Template:Steady
Template:Party color cell IND 2,05,962 2.33 22 0 Template:Steady
Total 88,56,173 100% - 63 20 -

Summary Results

Template:Pie chart

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

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