The Kerala Legislative Assembly election of 1967 was held to constitute the fourth assembly in Kerala.
This election, was held in the backdrop of the 1965 election which resulted in a hung assembly and subsequent President's rule. As a result of that, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) formed a seven-member coalition known as the Saptakakshi Munnani. The Indian National Congress and the Kerala Congress contested separately.
The election resulted in a landslide victory for the Saptakakshi Munnani which won a whopping 113 out 133 seats, the highest won by a coalition till date. The Indian National Congress suffered a massive debacle, being reduced to a mere 9 seats- the worst performance of the party in the state till date.
Veteran Communist Leader E. M. S. Namboothiripad was sworn in as the Chief Minister on 6 March 1967.[1][2]
Congress Leader and Mala legislator K. Karunakaran took over as the new Leader of the Opposition.
Future Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan was first elected to the assembly in 1967.
In the 1965 elections, no party was able to form a government in Kerala. No viable coalition took shape, and Kerala went back to President Rule for another 2 years.
Kerala again went back to the polls in 1967. Both communist parties - CPI (M) and CPI - along with smaller parties including SSP and Muslim League contested this election as a United Front. A total of seven parties contested in the front, and the front was known as Saptakakshi Munnani. Congress and Kerala Congress contested separately. The total polling percentage was 75.67%.
There were 133 constituencies in total, out of which 120 were General Category, 11 Scheduled Castes, and 2 Scheduled Tribe seats.
The national parties contested were the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress, Praja Socialist Party, Sanghata Socialist Party, and Swatantra Party along with the state parties Indian Union Muslim League and Kerala Congress.
The United Front performed spectacularly swept most of the seats. Congress and Kerala Congress were decimated with 9 and 5 seats respectively. E M S became the Chief Minister for the second time. Second E. M. S. Namboodiripad Ministry had 14 members. For the first time in Kerala's history, the cabinet also included members from Muslim League.[5] K. Karunakaran became the opposition leader in the assembly.
CPI (M) and CPI continued to have suspicions with each other. Due to the alleged high-handedness of CPI (M) in governance, most smaller parties were unsatisfied. This period also was marked by a series of student strikes and police firings. CPI, SSP & Muslim League eventually became a group within the front and worked together. Many ministers from the smaller parties resigned eventually, and many parties subsequently left the front. On 24 October 1969, EMS submitted resignation owing to the loss of majority in the assembly.[1]
Within a week of the resignation of E M S Namboothiripad, M N Govindan Nair of CPI informed the Governor that their party was ready to form an alternate government.[citation needed] CPI formed a government with outside support from Congress. C. Achutha Menon became the Chief Minister of Kerala on 1969, 1 November. The First Achutha Menon Ministry had 8 members.