1998 Indian general election in Kerala

The 1998 Indian general election were held to elect 20 members to the twelfth Lok Sabha from Kerala. Indian National Congress (INC)-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 11 seats, while the Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) won the remaining 9 seats. The earlier election in 1996 saw both alliances win equal share of seats. Turnout for the election was at 70.66%

Background The ruling LDF government in the state faced infightings, especially among V. S. Achuthanandan and CITU as the former was denied the Chief Ministerial post. KSKTU launched agitations against paddy field reclamation, which spiraled into a law and order issue. The state High Court directed the government to return the crop fields to the farmers. M. L. Ahuja cited "an element of militancy" and "disregard for democratic forms of agitations" among the CPI(M) activists during the agitation.

Alliances and parties

UDF is a Kerala legislative alliance formed by INC veteran K. Karunakaran. LDF comprises primarily of CPI(M) and the CPI, forming the Left Front in the national level. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), leading National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at national level contested in all 20 seats.

United Democratic Front No.PartyElection SymbolSeats Contested1.Indian National Congress172.Indian Union Muslim League23.Kerala Congress (M)1

Left Democratic Front No.PartyElection SymbolSeats Contested1.Communist Party of India (Marxist)92.Communist Party of India43.Revolutionary Socialist Party14.Independents 35.Janata Dal26.Kerala Congress 1

National Democratic Alliance No.PartyElection SymbolSeats Contested1.Bharatiya Janata Party20 List of Candidates ConstituencyUDFLDFBJP # Name Party Candidate Party Candidate Party Candidate1Kasaragod Khader Mangad T. Govindan 2Cannanore M. Ramachandran A. C. Shanmughadas P. C. Mohanan3Badagara P. M. Suresh Babu A. K. Premajam C. Balakrishnan Master4Calicut P. Sankaran M. P. Veerendra Kumar P. S. Sreedharan Pillai5Manjeri E. Ahamed K. V. Salahuddin Sumathy Haridas6Ponnani G. M. Banatwala Minu Mumthas Ahalliya Sankar7Palghat N. N. Krishnadas T. C. Govindan8Ottapalam (SC) K. K. Vijayalakshmi S. Ajaya Kumar P. M. Velayudhan9Trichur K. Muraleedharan V. V. Raghavan P. M. Gopinadhan10Mukundapuram A. C. Jose P. Govinda Pillai P. D. Purushothaman 11Ernakulam George Eden Sebastian Paul V. V. Augustine12Muvattupuzha P. C. Thomas Mathew John Narayanan Namboothiri13Kottayam Ramesh Chennithala K. Suresh Kurup George Kurian14Idukki P. C. Chacko K. Francis George D. Asokakumar15Alleppey V. M. Sudheeran C. S. Sujatha T. L. Radhamma16Mavelikara P. J. Kurien Ninan Koshy Rajan Moolaveettil17Adoor (SC) Kodikunnil Suresh Chengara Surendran Kainakary Janardhanan18Quilon K. C. Rajan N. K. Premachandran Raichel Matthai19Chirayinkil M. M. Hassan Varkala Radhakrishnan T. M. Viswambharan20Trivandrum K. Karunakaran K. V. Surendranath Kerala Varma Raja

List of elected MPs

No.ConstituencyName of Elected M.P.Party affiliation1KasaragodT. GovindanCPI(M)2KannurMullappally RamachandranINC3VatakaraA. K. PremajamCPI(M)4KozhikodeP. SankaranINC5ManjeriE. AhamedIUML6PonnaniG. M. BanatwalaIUML7PalakkadN. N. KrishnadasCPI(M)8OttapalamS. Ajaya KumarCPI(M)9ThrissurV. V. RaghavanCPI10MukundapuramA. C. JoseINC11ErnakulamGeorge EdenINC12MuvattupuzhaP. C. ThomasKC(M)13KottayamK. Suresh KurupCPI(M)14IdukkiP. C. ChackoKEC15AlappuzhaV. M. SudheeranINC16MavelikkaraP. J. KurienINC17AdoorChengara SurendranCPI18KollamN. K. PremachandranRSP19ChirayankilVarkala RadhakrishnanCPI(M)20ThiruvananthapuramK. KarunakaranINC

Results

Performance of political parties

No.PartyPolitical FrontSeatsVotes%Votes±pp1Indian National CongressUDF857,46,56638.67%0.662Communist Party of India (Marxist)LDF431,21,63621%0.163Communist Party of IndiaLDF212,35,7618.32%0.104Bharatiya Janata PartyNDA011,92,0468.02%2.415Indian Union Muslim LeagueUDF27,45,0705.01%0.076Janata DalLDF05,80,0943.90%0.507Revolutionary Socialist PartyLDF13,96,1452.67%0.178Kerala Congress (M)UDF13,56,1682.40%0.269Kerala CongressLDF03,27,6492.20%0.0310Indian National Leaguenone080,3330.54%0.5311Peoples Democratic Partynone040,9720.28%0.1712Bahujan Samaj Partynone019,4750.1%0.0513Shiv Senanone03,2900.02%14Janata Partynone01,1640.01%15Nagaland Peoples Partynone01,0660.01%16The Humanist Party Of Indianone07650.01%new17Samata Partynone05580.00%0.01Independents210,13,0676.82%0.15

By constituency

No.ConstituencyUDF candidateVotes%PartyLDF candidateVotes%PartyNDA candidateVotes%PartyWinning allianceMargin1KasaragodKhader Mangad3,47,67039.9%INCT. Govindan3,95,91045.4%CPI(M)P. K. Krishnadas1,03,09311.8%BJPLDF48,2402KannurMullappally Ramachandran3,80,46546.2%INCA .C. Shanmukhadas3,78,28545.9%INDP. C. Mohanan42,7605.2%BJPUDF2,1803VatakaraP. M. Suresh Babu3,48,71541.3%INCA. K. Premajam4,07,87648.3%CPI(M)Chettoor Balakrishnan69,5648.2%BJPLDF59,1614KozhikodeP. Sankaran3,56,39245.0%INCM. P. Veerendra Kumar3,37,73542.6%JDP. C. Mohanan83,86210.1%BJPUDF18,6575ManjeriE. Ahamed4,00,60949.3%IUMLK. V. Salahuddin2,94,60036.2%CPI(M)Sumathy Haridas79,5469.8%BJPUDF1,06,0096PonnaniG. M. Banatwalla3,44,46149.7%IUMLMinu Mumthas2,40,21734.7%CPIAhalliya Sankar65,0089.4%BJPUDF1,04,2447PalakkadV. S. Vijayaraghavan3,20,94143.1%INCN. N. Krishnadas3,45,96346.4%CPI(M)T. C. Govindan61,4198.2%BJPLDF25,0228OttapalamK. K. Vijayalakshmi3,15,57643.7%INCS. Ajayakumar3,35,37646.5%CPI(M)P. M. Velayudhan63,1858.8%BJPLDF19,8009ThrissurK. Muraleedharan3,47,94546.2%INCV. V. Raghavan3,38,99645.1%CPIP. D. Purushothaman54,4797.2%BJPLDF18,40910MukundapuramA. C. Jose3,97,15650.1%INCP. Govinda Pillai3,44,69343.5%CPI(M)M. S. Muraleedharan30,7793.9%BJPUDF8,94911ErnakulamGeorge Eden3,89,38750.2%INCSebastian Paul3,14,87940.6%INDV. V. Augustine62,2628.0%BJPUDF74,50812MuvattupuzhaP. C. Thomas3,56,16853.9%KC(M)Mathew John2,42,35936.7%JDNarayanan Namboothiri50,7387.7%BJPUDF1,13,80913KottayamRamesh Chennithala3,30,44745.9%INCK. Suresh Kurup3,35,89346.7%CPI(M)George Kurian42,8305.9%BJPLDF5,44614IdukkiP. C. Chacko3,33,99946.4%INCK. Francis George3,27,64945.6%KECD. Asokakumar46,1306.4%BJPUDF6,35015AlappuzhaV. M. Sudheeran3,86,18050.5%INCC. S. Sujatha3,45,54345.2%CPI(M)T. L. Radhamma27,0103.5%BJPUDF40,63716MavelikkaraP. J. Kurien2,75,00144.0%INCNinan Koshy2,73,74043.8%INDRajan Moolaveettil68,45011.0%BJPUDF1,26117AdoorKodikunnil Suresh3,16,29245.8%INCChengara Surendran3,33,29748.2%CPIKainakary Janardhanan34,8165.0%BJPLDF17,00518KollamK. C. Rajan3,24,38342.4%INCN. K. Premachandran3,96,14551.8%RSPRaichel Matthai36,9164.8%BJPLDF71,76219ChirayinkilM. M. Hassan3,13,93745.1%INCVarkala Radhakrishnan3,21,47946.2%CPI(M)T. M. Viswambharan47,2496.8%BJPLDF7,54220TrivandrumK. Karunakaran3,37,42944.0%INCK. V. Surendranath3,22,03142.0%CPIKerala Varma Raja94,30312.3%BJPUDF15,398

See also Elections in Kerala Politics of Kerala

References