Chief Minister of Kerala

The Chief Minister of Kerala is the head of government of the Indian state of Kerala. As per the Constitution of India, the state's governor is the state's de jure head, and the de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits. Usually, the chief minister also serves as leader of the house in the legislative assembly.

Following India's independence from the British Raj in 1947, the states' monarchs of Travancore (Thiruvithāmkōr) and Cochin (Kochi) instituted a measure of representative government, headed by a prime minister and his council of ministers. On 1 July 1949, Travancore and Cochin were merged to form Travancore-Cochin state. The Malabar and Kasaragod region of South Canara, which together constitute more than half of present state of Kerala, had their representatives in the Madras Legislative Assembly. On 1 November 1956, the States Reorganisation Act redrew India's map along linguistic lines, and the present-day state of Kerala was born, consisting of Malayalam-speaking regions, by merging the Malabar, and Kasaragod districts with Travancore-Cochin.

The first assembly election in Kerala was held in February–March 1957, and the first Kerala Legislative Assembly was formed on 5 April 1957. The assembly had 127 members including a nominated member. E. M. S. Namboodiripad of the Communist Party of India, was the first chief minister, and his tenure was cut short by the imposition of President's rule. Since then, 12 people have served as the chief minister of Kerala. E. K. Nayanar held the office for 10 years and 353 days, and is the longest serving holder of the office. Karunakaran was sworn in as the chief minister four times. A. K. Antony was the youngest to hold the office at age of 36 years, and V. S. Achuthanandan was the oldest to be sworn in at the age of 82 years. On four occasions, non-MLAs were sworn in as Chief Minister, C. Achutha Menon in 1969, A. K. Antony in 1977 and 1995, and E. K. Nayanar in 1996; they were subsequently elected to the Legislative Assembly through by-elections within the stipulated period of six months. The state has come under President's rule seven times, with the last of them occurring in 1982. Since the 1980s, the office of the chief minister has generally alternated between the leaders of the Indian National Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist). V. D. Satheesan is the current chief minister since 18 May 2026.

Predecessors (pre 1957) Assassinated or died in office Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term Resigned Resigned following a no-confidence motion Prime ministers of Travancore (1948–49) No Portrait NameTerm of Office Assembly Appointed by (Monarch)Party 1 Pattom A. Thanu Pillai 24 March 1948 17 October 1948 Representative Body (1948–49)Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma Indian National Congress rowspan="2" 2 Paravoor T. K. Narayana Pillai 22 October 1948 1 July 1949

Prime ministers of Cochin (1947–49) No Portrait NameTerm of OfficeAssemblyAppointed by (Monarch)Party 1 P. Govinda Menon 14 August 1947 22 October 1947 6thCouncil(1945–48)Aikya Keralam Thampuran Independent rowspan="3" 2 T. K. Nair 27 October 1947 20 September 1948 3 E. Ikkanda Warrier 20 September 1948 1 July 1949 Legislative Assembly (1948–49)

Prime ministers of Travancore-Cochin (1949–50)

No Portrait NameTerm of Office Assembly Appointed by (Rajpramukh)Party 1 Paravoor T. K. Narayana Pillai 1 July 1949 26 January 1950 1st Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma Indian National Congress

Chief ministers of Travancore-Cochin (1950–56) After India's independence in 1947, Travancore and Cochin were merged to form Travancore-Cochin on 1 July 1949. On 1 January 1950, Travancore-Cochin was recognised as a state.

No Portrait NameTerm of Office Assembly Appointed by (Rajpramukh)Party 1 Paravoor T. K. Narayana Pillai 26 January 1950 28 February 1951 1stChithira Thirunal Balarama Varma Indian National Congress rowspan="3" 2 C. Kesavan 28 February 1951 12 March 1952 3 A. J. John 12 March 1952 16 March 1954 2nd(1951 election) 4 Pattom A. Thanu Pillai 16 March 1954 10 February 1955 3rd(1954 election) Praja Socialist Party 5 P. Govinda Menon 10 February 1955 23 March 1956 Indian National Congress – Vacant(President's rule) 23 March 1956 31 October 1956 DissolvedN/A

List of chief ministers (1957–present) On 1 November 1956, Government of India enacted the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 by which a new Kerala state was formed by the merger of Travancore-Cochin state with the Malabar district and Kasaragod taluk of South Canara district of the Madras State. The southern part of Travancore-Cochin, Kanyakumari district, along with Sengottai Taluk was transferred to Madras state and the Laccadive and Minicoy Islands were separated from Malabar district to form a new Union Territory. A new Legislative Assembly was also created, for which elections were held in 1957. NoPortraitName ConstituencyTenure AssemblyMinistryParty Vacant(President's rule) N/A 1 November 1956 5 April 1957 DissolvedN/A1 E. M. S. Namboodiripad Nileshwaram 5 April 1957 31 July 1959 1st(1957 election)EMS ICommunist Party of India Vacant(President's rule) N/A 31 July 1959 22 February 1960 DissolvedN/A2 P. A. Thanu Pillai Thiruvananthapuram II 22 February 1960 26 September 1962 2nd(1960 election)PattomPraja Socialist Party 3 R. Sankar Kannur I 26 September 1962 10 September 1964 SankarIndian National Congress Vacant(President's rule)N/A 10 September 1964 25 March 1965DissolvedN/A 25 March 1965 6 March 1967 Dissolved(1965 election) (1) E. M. S. Namboodiripad Pattambi 6 March 1967 1 November 19693rd(1967 election)EMS IICommunist Party of India(Marxist) 4 C. Achutha Menon Kottarakkara 1 November 1969 3 August 1970 Achutha Menon ICommunist Party of India Vacant(President's rule) N/A 4 August 1970 3 October 1970 DissolvedN/A (4) C. Achutha Menon Kodakara 4 October 1970 25 March 1977 4th(1970 election)Achutha Menon IICommunist Party of India 5 K. Karunakaran Mala 25 March 1977 27 April 1977 5th(1977 election)Karunakaran IIndian National Congress rowspan="2" 6 A. K. Antony Kazhakootam 27 April 1977 29 October 1978 Antony I7 P. K. Vasudevan Nair Alappuzha 29 October 1978 12 October 1979 Vasudevan NairCommunist Party of India 8 C. H. Mohammed Koya Malappuram 12 October 1979 4 December 1979 KoyaIndian Union Muslim League Vacant(President's rule) N/A 5 December 1979 25 January 1980 DissolvedN/A9 E. K. Nayanar Malampuzha 25 January 1980 20 October 1981 6th(1980 election)Nayanar ICommunist Party of India(Marxist) Vacant(President's rule) N/A 21 October 1981 28 December 1981 N/A(5) K. Karunakaran Mala 28 December 1981 17 March 1982 Karunakaran IIIndian National Congress Vacant(President's rule) N/A 17 March 1982 23 May 1982 DissolvedN/A(5) K. Karunakaran Mala 24 May 1982 26 March 1987 7th(1982 election)Karunakaran IIIIndian National Congress (9) E. K. Nayanar Thrikaripur 26 March 1987 24 June 1991 8th(1987 election)Nayanar IICommunist Party of India(Marxist) (5) K. Karunakaran Mala 24 June 1991 22 March 19959th(1991 election)Karunakaran IVIndian National Congress rowspan="2" (6) A. K. Antony Tirurangadi 22 March 1995 20 May 1996 Antony II(9) E. K. Nayanar Thalassery 20 May 1996 17 May 2001 10th(1996 election)Nayanar IIICommunist Party of India(Marxist) (6) A. K. Antony Cherthala 17 May 2001 31 August 2004 11th(2001 election)Antony IIIIndian National Congress rowspan="2" 10 Oommen Chandy Puthuppally 31 August 2004 18 May 2006 Oommen I11 V. S. Achuthanandan Malampuzha 18 May 2006 18 May 2011 12th(2006 election)AchuthanandanCommunist Party of India(Marxist) (10) Oommen Chandy Puthuppally 18 May 2011 25 May 2016 13th(2011 election)Oommen IIIndian National Congress 12 Pinarayi Vijayan Dharmadam 25 May 2016 19 May 2021 14th(2016 election)Vijayan ICommunist Party of India(Marxist) rowspan="2" 20 May 2021 18 May 2026 15th(2021 election)Vijayan II13V. D. SatheesanParavur18 May 2026Incumbent16th (2026 election) SatheesanIndian National Congress

Statistics

List of chief ministers by length of term Name Party Length of termNo: of terms Longest continuous term Total years of premiership 1 CPI(M) 4 years, 361 days 10 years, 353 days3 2 CPI(M) 2 3 INC 4 years, 305 days 8 years, 315 days4 4 CPI 6 years, 172 days 7 years, 80 days2 5 INC 5 years, 6 days 6 years, 256 days2 6 INC 3 years, 105 days 5 years, 347 days3 7 CPI(M) 5 years, 0 days 5 years, 0 days1 8 CPI(M)/CPI 2 years 240 days 4 years 357 days2 9 PSP 2 years 216 days 2 years 216 days1 10 INC 1 year 350 days 1 year 350 days1 11 CPI 347 days 347 days1 12 INC 1 13 IUML 53 days 53 days1 List by party +Political parties by total time-span of their member holding CMO ( )No.Political partyNumber of chief ministersTotal days of holding CMO1Communist Party of India (Marxist)4 days2Indian National Congress5 days3Communist Party of India3 days4Praja Socialist Party1 days5Indian Union Muslim League1 days

Timeline

See also List of current Indian chief ministers Kerala Council of Ministers List of deputy chief ministers of Kerala

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Official website of Chief Minister of Kerala