The Kerala Legislative Assembly election of 1960 was the second assembly election in the Indian state of Kerala. The elections were held on 1 February 1960.

Background In the 1957 elections in Kerala, the Communist Party of India formed the government with the support of five independents. But in 1959, the Central Government dismissed the democratically elected government through the controversial Article 356 of the Indian Constitution following "The Liberation Struggle", even though the elected communist government was enjoying majority support within the legislature. After a short period of the President's rule, fresh elections were called in 1960.

Constituencies There were 114 legislative assembly constituencies in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, 1957. Out of these 102 were single-member constituencies while the number of double-member constituencies was 12. One constituency was reserved for Schedule Caste. There were 64,77,665 electors in single-member constituencies, while in double-member constituencies there were 15,63,333 electors. Total 312 candidates contested for the 126 seats of the 114 constituencies in the Assembly. Poll percentage was 85.72%, an increase of 20.23% from 65.49% in 1957 assembly elections.

Political parties Three national parties, Communist Party of India, Indian National Congress, and Praja Socialist Party along with the state party Muslim League took part in the assembly election. In these elections, the Indian National Congress, Praja Socialist Party, and Indian Union Muslim League formed a pre-poll alliance to counter the Communist Party of India. Together they fielded 125 candidates and supported an independent candidate, while the Communist Party of India fielded 108 candidates and gave party support to 16 independents.

Results

!colspan=12| |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9; text-align:center;" !colspan=2| Political Party !! Flag !! Seats Contested !! Won !! Net Change in seats !! % of Seats ! Votes !! Vote % !! Change in vote % !! Vote % in contested seats |- style="background: #90EE90;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Indian National Congress | | 80 || 63 || 20 || 50.00 || 2,789,556 || 34.42 || 3.43 || 45.37

| style="text-align:left;" |Communist Party of India | | 108 || 29 || 31 || 23.02 || 3,171,732 || 39.14 || 3.86 || 43.79 |- style="background: #90EE90;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Praja Socialist Party | | 33 || 20 || 11 || 15.87 || 1,146,028 || 14.14 || 3.38 || 38.41 |- style="background: #90EE90;"

| 12 || 11 || New || 8.73 || 401,925 || 4.96 || New || 47.79

| 61 || 3 || 11 || 4.17 || 488,699 || 5.93 || -5.61 || 13.96 |- class="unsortable" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan = 3| ! style="text-align:center;" |Total Seats !! 126 !! style="text-align:center;" |Voters !! 9,604,331 !! style="text-align:center;" |Turnout !! colspan = 3|8,232,572 (85.72%)

By constituency

A. C. NO.Assembly Constituency NameCategoryWinner Candidates NamePartyVoteRunner-up Candidates NamePartyVoteWinning Party Margin1ParassalaGENM. Kunjukrishnan NadarIND18,848ThangayyanCPI18,096IND7522NeyyattinkaraGENP. Narayanan ThampiPSP31,707R. Janardhanan NairCPI30,756PSP9563VilappilGENPonnara G. SreedharPSP27,929SurendranathCPI24,732PSP3,1974NemomGENViswambaranPSP28,573A. SadasivanCPI22,918PSP5,6555Trivandrum IGENB. P. EapenPSP27,328Krishnan NairCPI20,385PSP 6,9436Trivandrum IIGENPattom ThanupillaiPSP35,175K. AnirudhanCPI25,917PSP 9,2587UllurGENM. Alikunju SastriPSP30,269K. P. AlikunjuCPI24,939PSP 5,3308AryanadGENAntony DcruzPSP25,351K. C. GeorgeCPI22,258PSP 3,0939NedumangadGENN. Neelakandaru PandarathilCPI27,797P. S. Nataraja PillaiPSP25,685CPI 2,11210AttingalGENN. KunjuramanINC28,050R. PrakasamCPI27,920INC13011VarkalaGENBalakrishnanMCPI50231BalakrishnanMCPI5011412EravipuramGENRavindranMCPI25548Bhaskara PillaiMPSP2368913QuilonGENA. A. RahimMINC25083P. K. SukumaranMCPI1879114ThrikkadavurGENC. M. StephenMINC48618KrishnanMINC4624415KarunagappallyGENBaby JohnMIND21238KunjukrishnanMINC2103016KrishnapuramGENP. K. KunjuMPSP28247KarthikeyanMINC2758317KayamkulamGENAysha BaiFCPI30727HemachandranMINC2946718KarthigapallyGENR. SugathanMCPI30832A. AchuthanMPSP2843319HaripadGENN. S. Krishna PillaiMINC31389Ramakrishna PillaiMIND2108020MavelikaraGENGopala KurupMCPI54340KunjachanMCPI5404221KunnathurGENG. Candrasekhara PillaiMINC51101P. C. AdichenMCPI4925322Kottarakkara(SC)Damodaran PottMPSP27909Chandrasekharan NairMCPI2574123ChadayamangalamGENK. BhargavanMCPI25412M. Abdul MajeedMPSP2529024PathanapuramGENBalakrishna PillaiMINC35136Rajagopalan NairMCPI3060125PunalurGENK. Krishna PillaiMCPI26415SathibhaiFINC2304226RanniGENVayala IdiculaMINC34560E. M. ThomasMCPI2442627PathanamthittaGENC. K. Harichandran NairMPSP36660K. Karunakaran NairMCPI2819428AranmulaGENK. Gopinathan PillaiMINC31899R. Gopalakrishna PillaiMCPI2029529KalloopparaGENM. M. MathaiMINC32270Viwanathan NairMIND1401530ThiruvallaGENP. ChackoMINC36092Padmanabhan ThampiMCPI2002631ChengannurGENK. R. Saraswathy AmmaFINC31964R. Rajasekharan ThampiMCPI1906332AlleppeyGENNabisath BeeviFINC33443T. V. ThomasMCPI2965033MararikulamGENS. KumaranMCPI31826Devaki KrishnanFINC2447634SherthalaGENK. R. GouriFCPI29883Subramania PillaiMINC2837735AroorGENKarthikeyanMINC29403SadasivanMCPI2726536ThakashiGENThomas JohnMINC33079Gopalakrishna PillaiMIND2096137ChanganacherryGENN. Bhaskaran NairMINC31935A. M. Kalyanskrishnan NairMCPI2254238VazhoorGENVelappanMINC27566Purushothaman PillaiMCPI2050439KanjirappallyGENK. T. ThomasMINC28310K. S. Mustafaz KamalMIND2142240PuthuppallyGENP. C. CherianMINC30260M. ThomasMCPI2234941KottayamGENM. P. Govindan NairMINC29020N. Raghava KurupMCPI2786342EttumanoorGENGeorge Joseph PodiparaMINC30925Sankunny MenonMCPI2236743MeenachilGENP. T. Chacko (Thomas)MINC30745Jacob CherianMCPI1564444VaikomGENSreenivasanMCPI32707PavithranMINC3063845KaduthuruthyGENAbraham ChummarMINC32615Umadevi AntharjanamFCPI1731646RamamangalamGENE. P. PouloseMINC32448P. V. AbrahamMCPI1987147MuvattupuzhaGENK. M. GeorgeMINC33520K. C. AbrahamMIND2090748DevikulamGENMurugesan ThiruvengadanMINC75141M. M. SundaramMCPI7280149ThodupuzhaGENMathewMINC34156Jose AbrahamMCPI1389950KarikodeGENKosumom JosephFINC29907Saidu Monammad SahibMIND1362151PoonjarGENT. A. ThommanMINC35722Kumara MenonMCPI1436452PuliyannurGENK. M. Joseph ChazhikattuMPSP34781UlahananMCPI1450353PalluruthyGENAlexander ParambitharaMINC33541Kerala Varma ThampuranMIND2630454MattancherryGENK. K. ViswanathanMINC32997Ratnam Ranganath RaiFIND1841155NeenakkalGENK. C. AbrahamMINC31212P. R. LeghnanMCPI2832256ErnakulamGENA. L. JacobMINC32001V. Viswanatha MenonMCPI2510857KanayannurGENT. K. RamakrishnanMCPI31582K. R. NarayananMINC2910158AlwayeGENT. O. ChackoMINC34484M. M. Abdul KadirMCPI2886759PerumbavoorGENK. M. ChackoMINC31718Govinda PillaiMCPI2591860KothakulangaraGENM. A. AntonyMINC38681KurianMCPI1987261ParurGENK. A. Damodara MenonMINC30369N. Siran PillaiMCPI2637162VadakkekaraGENK. R. VijayanMINC27200K. A. BalanMCPI2612163CranganoreGENP. K. Abdul KadirMINC33679E. Gopalakrishna MenonMCPI2616464ChalakkudyGENC. G. JanardhananMPSP66618K. K. BalakrishnanMINC6645465IrinjalakudaGENC. Achutha MenonMCPI29069P. Achutha MenonMPSP2870866ManalurGENKuruineelakantan NamboothiripadMINC30291Joseph MundassariMCPI2767767TrichurGENT. A. Dharmaraja IyerMINC30277K. Balakrishna MenonMIND2981468OllurGENP. R. FrancisMINC29950V. V. RaghavanMCPI2709169KunnamkulamGENP. R. KrishnanMINC29450T. K. KrishnanMCPI2687870WadakkancheryGENK. Balakrishna MenonMPSP46052KochukuttanMINC4572671NattikaGENK. T. AchuthanMINC29235T. K. RamanMCPI2879672GuruvayoorGENK. G. KarunakaraMINC26083K. DamodaranMCPI2507573AndathoduGENB. V. Seethi ThangalMML26615K. Govinda Kutty MenonMCPI2262174PonnaniGENKunhambu KallenMINC45326Cherukoya ThangalMML4336075KushalmannamGENKuduvakottu JohnMCPI28817T. A. BalakrishnanMINC1778576AlathurGENR. KrishnanMCPI31159A. Sunna SahibMINC2193577ChitturGENP. Balachandra MenonMCPI48241Narayanan ThandanMCPI4815678ElapullyGENA. K. Ramankutty NairMCPI24958T. K. KelukuttyMINC1811979PalghatGENR. Ranghava MenonMINC26546K. C. GopalanunniMCPI2478880ParliGENA. R. MenonMCPI33605A. S. DivakaranMPSP16545Bye Polls in 1960ParliM.V.VasuMCOM25977A.S.DivakaranMPSP1376081MannarghatGENKrishnan KongaseriMCPI25060M. P. Govinda MenonMPSP1899982PerinthalmannaGENE. P. GopalanMCPI24866Moideenkutty MelevosttiMML2033983OttapalamGENKunhunni NayarMCPI24741Chandrasekhara KurupMPSP1811884PattambiGENE. M. Sankaran NamboodiripadMCPI26478A. Raghavan NairMINC1915685MankadaGENP. Abdul MajeedMML24343Pookunhi Koya ThangalMCPI2003786TirurGENK. Moideenkutty HajiMML28518K. P. BavakuttyMCPI1660387TanurGENC. H. Mohammad KoyaMML27893Nadukkandy Mohammad KoyaMCPI844588KuttippuramGENSeethi SahibMML29073Kunhikrishnan ThorakkaduMCPI1243089ThirurangadyGENAvukkadarkutty Hajee NahaMML34749M. Koya Kunhi Naha HajeeMCPI1804990MalappuramGENK. Hassan GaniMML32947Sadhu P. Ahammad KuttyMCPI1211891ManjeriGENP. P. Ummer KoyaMINC69700Chandayan MuniadanMML6602892KandottyGENM. P. M. Ahammad KurikkalMML33167Momukutty MoulaviMIND1186093Kozhikode IGENO. T. Sarada KrishnanFINC30638Krishnan KallatMCPI2473294Kozhikode I IGENP. KumaranMINC33587Appu AdiuolilMIND2061395ChevayurGENRaghavan NairMCPI29063A. BalagopalanMINC2835796KunnamangalamGENLeela Damodara MenonFINC34539ChathunniMCPI2260897KoduvallyGENGopalakutty NairMINC37483M. V. AlikoyaMIND1621498BalusseriGENM. Narayana KurufMPSP32423K. KalandankuttyMIND2298399QuilandyGENKunhiraman NabbiarMPSP40361RamakrishnanMIND21083100PerambraGENP. K. Narayanan NambiarMPSP38272Kumaran MadathilMCPI27472101BadagaraGENM. KrishnanMPSP32552M. K. KeluMCPI22824102NadapuramGENHameed Ali ShemnadMML34893C. H. KanaranMCPI27846103WynadGENBalakrishnan NambiarMINC79235Madhura VazhavattaMINC77380104KuthuparambaGENP. Ramunni KurupMPSP42338AbooMIND18691105MattannurGENN. E. BalaramMCPI31119AchuthanMPSP31034106TellicherryGENP. KunhiramanMINC28380V. R. Krishna IyarMIND28357107Cannanore IGENR. SankarMINC33313Kannan ChaliyothMCPI23859108Cannanore IIGENMadhavan PambanMINC31252K. P. GopalanMCPI27563109MadayiGENPrahladan GopalanMINC30829K. P. R. GopalanMCPI30568110IrikkurGENT. C. Narayanaan NambiarMCPI31769M. P. Moidu Hajee MelekandyMINC30489111NileswarGENC. Kunhikrshna NairMINC59513Koran OlaikkapurakalMPSP59340112HosdrugGENK. ChandrasekharanMPSP27862K. MadhavanMCPI22315113KasaragodGENM. Kunhikannan NambiarMINC19399Anantharama ChettyMIND15747114ManjeshwarGENKalige Mahabala BhandaryMIND23129Kamappa MasterMCPI13131

Government formation Congress and Praja Socialist Party alliance got the majority in the election and hence formed the government. Pattom A. Thanu Pillai of the Praja Socialist Party became the chief minister and R. Sankar of the Indian National Congress became the deputy chief minister on 22 February 1960, with eleven council ministers.

Pattam A. Thanu Pillai resigned on 26 September 1962 after he was appointed as the Governor of Punjab and R. Sankar became the first Congress Chief Minister of Kerala.

See also The Liberation Struggle President's rule 1960 elections in India Pattom Thanupillai Ministry R. Sankar Ministry 1957 Kerala Legislative Assembly election

References