The Democratic Labour Party was a political party in Kerala, India. The DLP was founded in 1979, as the political wing of the Kerala Dheevar Maha Sabha (an organisation of Hindu fishermen).T. M. Thomas Isaac, and S. Mohana Kumar. Kerala Elections, 1991: Lessons and Non-Lessons. Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 26, no. 47, 1991, pp. 2691–704 was the general secretary of the party.
The DLP supported the United Democratic Front (UDF).Kurup, G. Radhakrishna. Politics of Congress Factionalism in Kerala Since 1982. Kalpaz Publications, 2004. p. 110 V. Dinakaran contested the 1980 elections with UDF support. In the parliamentary election, he finished in third place in the Allepey constituency with 8,814 votes (2.11%).Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1980 TO THE SEVENTH LOK SABHA - VOLUME I (NATIONAL AND STATE ABSTRACTS & DETAILED RESULTS) In the Legislative Assembly election V. Dinakaran finished in second place in the Ambalappuzha constituency with 32,884 votes (47.73%).Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1980 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF KERALA
V. Dinakaran was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly with UDF support in the 1982 election.Nair, A. Balakrishnan, and Bālakr̥ṣṇan Nāyar, E.. The Government and Politics of Kerala: Structure, Dynamics, and Development. Indira Publications, 1994. p. 96 He won the Ambalappuzha seat, obtaining 35,821 votes (50.93%).Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1982 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF KERALA DLP supported the Indian National Congress-led state government formed after the election.Dynamics of State Politics, Kerala. Sterling Publishers, 1986. pp. 76, 186 DLP was not, however, given any ministerial post in the state government.Asian Recorder. K. K. Thomas at Recorder Press, 1982. p. 16657 V. Dinakaran and DLP tried to pressure the state government on political demands, as well as advocating inclusion of the party in the state government.Gopa Kumar, G.. Regional Political Parties and State Politics. Deep & Deep Publications, 1986. p. 83 V. Dinakaran retained the Ambalappuzha seat in the 1987 election, obtaining 41,938 votes (47.62%).Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1987 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF KERALA
The influence of the party ebbed out after the mid-1980s, and the party suffered internal rifts.Hoeppe, Götz. Conversations on the beach : fishermen's knowledge, metaphor and environmental change in South India. Berghahn Books, 2007. p. 42 Dinakaran lost his seat in the legislature in the 1991 election (obtaining 46,617 votes, or 47.54%), and in subsequent elections DLP would no longer have a candidate in the UDF seat sharing.State, Natural Resource Conflicts and Challenges to Governance: Where Do We Go from Here?. Academic Foundation, 2008. pp. 105-106Election Commission of India. STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1991 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF KERALA
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