Midterm Election in Kerala in 1960 and the American Government

Abstract

After toppling the first Communist ministry in Kerala the main attention of the US agencies—Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the US Embassy in India—was to install a non-communist stable government in Kerala to meet the dangers of communism in Asia. The US agencies adopted two ways to realise these objectives. First of all, they extended all out support to the triple alliance composed of the Congress Party, Praja Socialist Party (PSP) and the Muslim League against the Communist Party in 1960 election. The election campaign of the triple alliance was much funded by the CIA. However the triple alliance won the election, the Communist Party got more votes than in 1957 and it intensified the US agencies to beef up its anti-Communist operations in Kerala and outside. It led to the adoption of second method of anti-Communist activities that the US agencies began to give wide publicity in India and outside that the first Communist ministry in Kerala could not make any economic advancement in Kerala during their tenure nor could they redress the chronic problems of unemployment and food scarcity and if Communists were voted to power in other parts of Asia, they would follow the same trend and fall.