The Kerala Legislative Assembly election of 1965 was held to elect members to the third Niyamasabha. Communist Party of India (Marxist), which was the splinter faction of Communist Party of India, emerged as the largest party in the assembly with 40 seats, followed by Indian National Congress with 36. However no single party could form a ministry commanding majority and hence this election is considered abortive. On March 25, President's rule was invoked for the fourth time.[3][4]
Both the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India went through big changes during the period that preceded the elections in 1965. Congress was split and a new state party Kerala Congress was formed.
Communist Party of India also went through a split during this time, forming CPI(M).
There were 133 constituencies in total, out of which 120 were General Category, 11 Scheduled Castes, and 2 Scheduled Tribe seats.
Three national parties - Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) and three state level parties Kerala Congress, Indian Union Muslim League and Samyukta Socialist Party took part in the elections.
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No party or group was able to form a government due to the fractured nature of results. The result was the dissolution of the assembly again, and the state was again under President's Rule.