The 1980 Parliamentary Election was a mid-term election held following the collapse of the Janata Party led governments led by Prime Ministers Morarji Desai and Charan Singh. It was also the first election that the Indian National Congress fought from the opposition. The party had suffered a split, with the faction led by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (Indian National Congress (Indira)) asserting its electoral popularity by winning 353 seats and forming a majority government of its own..
This was the first election fought in Kerala since the two coalitions, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) came into existence. These elections were held in the backdrop of growing political instability in Kerala. The previous Legislative Assembly (1977-79) had seen four Chief Ministers come to power- K. Karunakaran, A.K. Antony, P. K. Vasudevan Nair and C. H. Mohammed Koya, The Communist Party of India, the INC (U) and KC (Mani) split off from the United Front coalition led by the Indian National Congress to form the LDF, a coalition with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the principle opposition party in Kerala. On the other hand, the INC (I) along with the Indian Union Muslim League, KC (Joseph) and the Janata Party formed the primary components of the UDF.
The LDF registered a comfortable victory over the UDF by winning 12 seats over the 8 seats bagged by the latter. In the assembly election held a fortnight later, the LDF came to power with senior CPI(M) leader E. K. Nayanar assuming the office of Chief Minister.
Parties and alliances
Left Democratic Front No.PartyElection SymbolSeats contested1.Communist Party of India (Marxist)82.Indian National Congress (Urs) 63.Communist Party of India24.Kerala Congress 25.Revolutionary Socialist Party16.All India Muslim League 1
United Democratic Front No.PartyElection SymbolSeats contested1.Indian National Congress112.Indian Union Muslim League23.Janata Party34.Independent 4 List of Candidates ConstituencyLDFUDF1Kasaragod Ramanna Rai O. Rajagopal2Cannanore Kandalottu Kunhambu N. Ramakrishnan3Badagara K. P. Unnikrishnan Mullappally Ramachandran4Calicut E. K. Imbichi Bava Arangil Sreedharan5Manjeri K. Moideenkutty Haji Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait6Ponnani Aryadan Muhammed G. M. Banatwala7Palghat T. Sivadasa Menon V. S. Vijaya Raghavan8Ottapalam (SC) A. K. Balan Vella Eacharan9Trichur K. A. Rajan P. P. George10Mukundapuram E. Balanandan C. G. Kumaran11Ernakulam Henry Austin Xavier Varghese Arakal12Muvattupuzha George J. Mathew George J. Baby13Kottayam Skaria Thomas K. M. Chandy14Idukki M. M. Lawrence T. S. John15Alleppey Susheela Gopalan Omana Pillai16Mavelikara P. J. Kurien Thevally Madhavan Pillai17Adoor (SC) P. K. Kodiyan R. Achuthan18Quilon N. Sreekantan Nair B. K. Nair19Chirayinkil Vayalar Ravi A. A. Rahim20Trivandrum M. N. Govindan Nair Neelalohithadasan Nadar
Results No.PartySeats wonSeats contestedVotesVoteshareLeft Democratic Front (LDF)1Communist Party of India (Marxist)7817,54,38721.5%2Indian National Congress (Urs)3612,94,48015.8%3Communist Party of India123,37,1944.1%4Kerala Congress123,56,9974.4%5All India Muslim League011,96,8202.4%6Revolutionary Socialist Party011,85,5622.3%TotalLDF122041,25,44050.5%United Democratic Front (UDF)1Indian National Congress (Indira)51121,50,18626.3%2Indian Union Muslim League224,54,2355.6%3Independents- 146,76,1648.2%4Janata Party035,22,3216.3%TotalUDF82038,02,90646.4%
Constituency Wise Constituency Winner Runner Up Margin % # Name Candidate Party Votes % Candidate Party Votes %1KasaragodM. Ramanna RaiCPI(M)263,67356.95O. RajagopalJNP190,08641.0573,58715.902CannanoreK. KunhambuINC(U)257,81257.70N. RamakrishnanINC(I)184,55541.3073,25716.403BadagaraK. P. UnnikrishnanINC(U)271,79654.15Mullappally RamachandranINC(I)230,11445.8541,6828.304CalicutE. K. Imbichi BavaCPI(M)226,94053.65Arangil SreeedharanJNP186,24544.0340,6959.625ManjeriEbrahim SaitIUML231,40153.61K. Moideenkutty HajiAIML196,82045.6034,5818.016PonnaniG. M. BanatwalaIUML222,83455.53Ariadan MohamedINC(U)171,97142.8650,86312.677PalghatV. S. Vijaya RaghavanINC(I)204,35549.86T. Sivadasa MenonCPI(M)192,26746.9112,0882.958Ottapalam (SC)A. K. BalanCPI(M)203,25652.58V. EacharanINC(I)179,84846.5223,4086.069TrichurK. A. RajanCPI(M)195,34351.04P. P. GeorgeINC(I)152,19239.7743,15111.2710MukundapuramBalanandanCPI(M)227,23556.73C. G. KumaranIND162,10440.4765,13116.2611ErnakulamXavier Varghese ArakalINC(I)189,22548.02Henry AustinINC(U)186,72347.392,5020.6312MuvattupuzhaGeorge JosephIND172,65148.00George J. MathewKEC168,32146.804,3301.2013KottayamSkaria ThomasKEC188,67649.50K. M. ChandyINC(I)183,30148.095,3751.4114IdukkiM. M. LawrenceCPI(M)184,91949.44T. S. JohnIND177,88647.567,0331.8815AlleppeySuseela GopalanaCPI(M)260,75462.29Omana PillaiJNP145,99034.88114,76427.4116MavelikaraP. J. KurienINC(U)226,64554.09Thevally Madhavan PillaiIND163,52339.0363,12215.0617Adoor (SC)P. K. KodiyanCPI170,43353.04R. AchuthanINC(I)145,03445.1325,3997.9118QuilonB. K. NairINC(I)222,14853.23N. Sreekantan NairRSP185,56244.4636,5868.7719ChirayinkilA. A. RahimINC(I)185,59648.01Vayalar RaviINC(U)179,53346.456,0631.5620TrivandrumNeelalohithadasanINC(I)273,81860.90M. N. Govindan NairCPI166,76137.09107,05723.81
Post-election Union Council of Ministers from Kerala References
External links PC: Kerala 1980 STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1980 TO THE SEVENTH LOK SABHA