Story of Schisms and Isms : Kerala : From the Twilight of Monarchy to the Present by R Mohan

The book discusses how the major political parties emerged and evolved in Travancore, Cochin and Malabar, the three regions that went on to be part of Kerala on November 1,1956. The political scene in the late 1940s and 1950s clearly evidence the rise of a fragmentation of the political parties, the basis of which can be traced back to the schisms in the society in the pre-independence period. The need for coalition politics was felt by the political parties in Travancore as early as in 1952. Kerala’s party system became further fragmented after splits in major parties like the Communist Party and the Congress in 1964. The results of the 1965 assembly elections threw up a hung mandate in which none was able to form a government. Subsequent decades saw the emergence of a scenario in which the politics was polarised between two united fronts, led by the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) respectively. Later, the Bharatiya Janata party also became a player of reckoning in electoral politics and in some constituencies, a strong triangular fight is being witnessed . The enduring community and class bases of the leading political parties are also showing signs of shifting.

While the events in the political and social scene are looked at in detail, no attempt has been made to see how these events fit into or run counter to the theories and hypotheses in political science.

Willaim H. Riker, leading political scientist, while looking at Duverger’s hypothesis and Duverger’s law, reformulated the law taking into consideration the Indian situation 2 . As per Duverger’s law, there will be a tendency in the first past the post system (as in India) of elections, towards a two-party system. In the Kerala context, the party system became fragmented, but there has been a tendency for these factions, to remain in a united front, even when there are schisms between their isms. The leading parties of the united fronts, the Congress and the Communists have moved towards the median and accommodated parties to the left and right of the centre. The increased electoral presence of the third actor, the Bharatiya Janata party, which has been ruling at the Centre since 2014, and how it will shake the bipolarity in Kerala politics needs to be watched. This is an area, which seems to have scope for further research by political scientists.

Kerala’s politics has come a long way since the 1950s and the parties have become more accommodative in forming united fronts. Except the Congress, and the CPI (M), all parties in both the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front have been allies at some point of time, in the last five decades. Schisms over isms have taken a secondary place in electoral politics. In the end, a short discussion on the paradoxes, problems and prospects of the Kerala society is attempted and how coalition politics have contributed to resolving or postponing resolution of problems is looked at.