The 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held on 16 May 2016 to elect 140 MLAs to the 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly. Voter turnout was 77.53%, up from 75.12% in the previous election. The result was declared on 19 May 2016. The Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), won the election, defeating the incumbent United Democratic Front (UDF), led by the Indian National Congress (INC), which could only win 47 seats in the election. Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn in as the Chief Minister on 25 May.
Background The tenure of the members of the Legislative Assembly in the state was to end on 31 May 2016. As per the voters list published on 14 January 2016, there were around 2.60 crore (26 million) eligible voters including 6.18 lakh (618,000) new voters in the age group 18–21. Elections to the 140-member assembly were held in 21,498 polling stations set up at 12,038 locations. There were 500 model polling stations. Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme was undertaken in Kerala to raise voter awareness. + Final voters list for Kerala Legislative Assembly election 2016 Group of voters Voters population Male 12,510,580 Female 13,508,702 Third gender 2 Total voters26,019,284
2,065 Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) units were used by the Election Commission in 1,650 polling stations in 12 constituencies. VVPAT were not used in Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Wayanad and Kasaragod districts. The Election Commission launched several mobile apps.
Assembly constituencies of Kerala having VVPAT facility with EVMs KannurKozhikode NorthMalappuram PalakkadThrissurKottayam AlappuzhaKollamVattiyoorkkavu NemomErnakulamThrikkakkara
Parties and coalitions There are two major political coalitions in Kerala. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is the coalition of the left-wing and far-left parties, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). The United Democratic Front (UDF) is the coalition of centrist and centre-left parties led by the Indian National Congress.
Left Democratic Front (Kerala)
Party Flag Symbol Photo Leader Seats contested Male Female Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kodiyeri Balakrishnan 90 78 12 Communist Party of India Kanam Rajendran 25 21 4 Janata Dal (Secular) Mathew T. Thomas 5 4 1 Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy 4 4 0 Nationalist Congress Party T. P. Peethambaran 4 4 0 Janadhipathya Kerala Congress Francis George 4 4 0 Indian National League S. A. Puthiya Valappil 3 3 0 Kerala Congress (B) R. Balakrishna Pillai 1 1 0 Kerala Congress (Skaria Thomas) Skariah Thomas 1 1 0 Communist Marxist Party (Aravindakshan) K. R. Aravindakshan 1 1 0 Revolutionary Socialist Party (Leninist) Kovoor Kunjumon 1 1 0 Congress (Secular) Kadannappalli Ramachandran 1 1 0
United Democratic Front (Kerala)
Party Flag Symbol Photo Leader Contesting Seats Male Candidates Female Candidates Indian National Congress (Indira) V. M. Sudheeran 87 78 9 Indian Union Muslim League Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal 24 24 0 Kerala Congress (Mani) K. M. Mani 15 15 0 Janata Dal (United) M. P. Veerendra Kumar 7 7 0 Revolutionary Socialist Party A. A. Aziz 5 5 0 Communist Marxist Party C. P. John 1 1 0 Kerala Congress (Jacob) Anoop Jacob 1 1 0
National Democratic Alliance
Party Flag Symbol Photo Leader Contesting Seats Male Candidates Female Candidates Bharatiya Janata Party Kummanam Rajasekharan 98 88 10 Bharath Dharma Jana Sena Thushar Vellappally 36 35 1 Kerala Congress (Thomas) P. C. Thomas 4 4 0 Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (Rajan Babu) A. N. Rajan Babu 1 1 0 Janadhipathya Rashtriya Sabha C. K. Janu 1 0 1
Left United Front Party Flag Symbol PhotoLeader Seats contested Male Female Revolutionary Marxist Party N. Venu 10 9 1 Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) C. K. Lukose 32 27 5 Marxist Communist Party of India (United) M. Rajan
Parties not in any coalition Party Flag Symbol Photo Leader Contested Seats Social Democratic Party of India K. M. Ashraf 88 Bahujan Samaj Party J. Sudhakaran 74 Peoples Democratic Party Abdul Nasar Madani 60 Welfare Party of India Hameed Vaniyambalam 41 Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Red Star M. K. Dasan 18 Shiv Sena M.S. Bhuvanachandran 16 Samajwadi Party N. O. Kuttappan 9 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam A. L. Pradeep 7 Ambedkarite Party of India 5 Indian Gandhiyan Party 3 Kerala Janatha Party 3 Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation Dipankar Bhattacharya 1
List of Candidates