Communist and Congress Prospects in Kerala

Abstract

Kerala is the only state in India in which the Congress Party has failed to emerge as the dominant political organization. The Congress has had only limited success in its efforts to mobilize electoral support in Kerala; even when it succeeded in doing so, it was unable to remain in office for an extended period. However, no other party or combination of parties has succeeded where the Congress has failed. Political stability has thus been virtually nonexistent in Kerala. The Communist victory in the 1957 elections, limited and temporary as it was, constituted a major setback to the Congress and its efforts to achieve a position of dominance in the State. But important developments over the last few years seem to indicate that it is the Communist Party (CPI) which may well have to face increasing difficulties at the same time that the Congress' prospects appear to be more promising. Since the 1952 general elections, the Communist Party has sought to take full advantage of the large number of groups and factions active in Kerala politics to enhance chances of its own success at the elections. Ideological considerations have never inhibited the Party from seeking alliances, overt and covert, with as many groups as possible. In 1952, the Party had as allies in the United Front of Leftists (UFL)-which was mainly its creation-the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Kerala Socialist Party (KSP). Communist attempts to entice the Indian Socialist Party (later, the Praja Socialist Party or PSP) into the alliance, however, did not succeed onl this occasion. Nevertheless, as a form of investment for the future, the UFL extended unsolicited support to the Socialists by withdrawing its candidates from constituencies where the Socialists had a good chance of winning and canvassing for them where it had no candidates of its own in the field. The united front strategy on the whole yielded good results for the CPI. Among the 38 successful candidates supported by the UFL, 30 were Communist, 6 belonged to the RSP and 2 to the KSP. In the 1954 elections the Communists again employed united front tactics, and this time gained the PSP as an unofficial ally. Although the PSP did not join the UFL as a full member, the two organizations formally agreed not to contest against each other with the objective of giving the Congress a straight fight in more constituencies than had been possible in 1952. Once again the Communists gained the most from the bargain. They secured 17% of the total votes and 19%o of the seats in the Assembly to the PSP's 16%o of the votes and 16.2% of the seats. In the process, the Communists became the second party, after the Congress, in the State. The