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.
March 1977 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 seats | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Indian National Congress | 11 | |
| 2. | Communist Party of India | 4 | |
| 3. | Indian Union Muslim League | 2 | |
| 4. | Kerala Congress | 2 | |
| 5. | Revolutionary Socialist Party | 1 |
Marxist Front
| No. | Party | Election Symbol | Seats contested |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 9 | |
| 2. | Bharatiya Lok Dal | 3 | |
| 3. | Kerala Congress (Pillai) | 3 | |
| 4. | Muslim League (Opposition) | 2 | |
| 5. | Independent | 3 |
List of Candidates
| Constituency | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Front | Marxist Front | ||||||
| 1 | Kasaragod | INC | Kadannappalli Ramachandran | CPI(M) | Ramanna Rai | ||
| 2 | Cannanore | CPI | C. K. Chandrappan | CPI(M) | O. Bharathan | ||
| 3 | Badagara | INC | K. P. Unnikrishnan | BLD | Arangil Sreedharan | ||
| 4 | Calicut | INC | V. A. Seyid Muhammad | BLD | M. Kamalam | ||
| 5 | Manjeri | IUML | Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait | AIML | B. M. Hussain | ||
| 6 | Ponnani | IUML | G. M. Banatwala | AIML | M. Moideen Kutty Haji | ||
| 7 | Palghat | INC | A. Sunnasahib | CPI(M) | T. Sivadasa Menon | ||
| 8 | Ottapalam (SC) | INC | K. Kunhambu | CPI(M) | C. K. Chakrapani | ||
| 9 | Trichur | CPI | K. A. Rajan | CPI(M) | Aravindakshan | ||
| 10 | Mukundapuram | INC | A. C. George | Ind. | S. C. S. Menon | ||
| 11 | Ernakulam | INC | Henry Austin | CPI(M) | K. N. Raveendranath | ||
| 12 | Muvattupuzha | KEC | George J. Mathew | KC(P) | K. M. Joseph Kuruppamadham | ||
| 13 | Kottayam | KEC | Skariah Thomas | KC(P) | Varkey George | ||
| 14 | Idukki | INC | C. M. Stephen | KC(P) | M. M. Joseph | ||
| 15 | Alleppey | INC | V. M. Sudheeran | CPI(M) | E. Balanandan | ||
| 16 | Mavelikara | INC | B. K. Nair | Ind. | B. G. Verghese | ||
| 17 | Adoor (SC) | CPI | P. K. Kodiyan | CPI(M) | K. Chandrasekharan Shastri | ||
| 18 | Quilon | RSP | N. Sreekantan Nair | Ind. | N. Rajagopalan | ||
| 19 | Chirayinkil | INC | Vayalar Ravi | CPI(M) | K. Anirudhan | ||
| 20 | Trivandrum | CPI | M. N. Govindan Nair | BLD | P. Viswambharan | ||
Results
| 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% | |
- UDF (54.2%)
- LDF (43.2%)
- Other (2.60%)
| 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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