List of chief ministers of Kerala
The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. This is a state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[2]
Chief minister of Kerala | |
---|---|
Kēraḷa Mukhyamantri കേരള മുഖ്യമന്ത്രി | |
![]() | |
Chief minister's office | |
Style | The Honourable (Formal) Mr./Mrs. Chief Minister (Informal) |
Status | Head of government |
Abbreviation | CM |
Member of | |
Residence | Cliff House, Thiruvananthapuram |
Seat | Kerala Government Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram |
Appointer | Governor of Kerala |
Term length | At the pleasure of the governor of Kerala[1] |
Precursor | Prime minister of Travancore Prime minister of Kingdom of Cochin Chief minister of Madras Chief ministers of Travancore-Cochin |
Inaugural holder | E. M. S. Namboodiripad (1957–1959) |
Formation | 5 April 1957 |
Salary |
|
Website | CMO Kerala |
Following India's independence from the British Raj in 1947, the states' monarchs of Travancore and Cochin instituted a measure of representative government, headed by a prime minister and his council of ministers. On 1 July 1949 Travancore and Cochin were merged to form Travancore-Cochin state. The Malabar District and Kasaragod region of South Canara, which together constitute more than half of present state of Kerala, had their representatives in the Madras Legislative Assembly.
On 1 November 1956, the States Reorganisation Act redrew India's map along linguistic lines, and the present-day state of Kerala was born, consisting solely of Malayalam-speaking regions, by merging Cochin, Malabar, and Travancore regions, and the Kasaragod region of South Canara.[3] The first assembly election in Kerala state was held in February–March 1957.[3] The first Kerala Legislative Assembly was formed on 5 April 1957. The Assembly had 127 members including a nominated member.[3] Since then, 12 people have served as the chief minister of Kerala. The first was E. M. S. Namboodiripad of the Communist Party of India, whose tenure was cut short by the imposition of President's rule. Kerala has come under President's rule for four years over seven terms, the last of them in 1982. Since then the office has alternated between leaders of the Indian National Congress and of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). E. K. Nayanar is the longest serving holder of the office for a total of 10 years, 353 days. Pinarayi Vijayan is the incumbent chief minister; his Left Democratic Front government has been in office since 25 May 2016.
Key
|
Precursors
Prime ministers of Travancore (1948–49)
No[lower-alpha 1] | Portrait | Name | Term of Office | Assembly | Appointed by (Monarch) | Party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | Pattom Thanu Pillai | 24 March 1948 | 17 October 1948 | 210 days | Representative
Body (1948–49) |
Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma | Indian National Congress | |
2 | Paravoor T. K. Narayana Pillai | 22 October 1948 | 1 July 1949 | 253 days |
Prime ministers of Cochin (1947–1949)
No[lower-alpha 2] | Portrait | Name | Term of Office | Assembly | Appointed
by (Monarch) |
Party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | Panampilly Govinda Menon | 14 August 1947 | 22 October 1947 | 51 days | 6th Council (1945–48) |
Aikya Keralam Thampuran | Independent | |
2 | T. K. Nair | 27 October 1947 | 20 September 1948 | 334 days | |||||
3 | ![]() | E. Ikkanda Warrier | 20 September 1948 | 30 June 1949 | 283 days | Legislative
Assembly (1948–49) | |||
Chief ministers of Travancore-Cochin (1949–1956)
After India's independence in 1947, Travancore and Cochin were merged to form Travancore-Cochin on 1 July 1949. On 1 January 1950, Travancore-Cochin was recognised as a state.
No[lower-alpha 3] | Portrait | Name | Term of Office | Assembly | Appointed
by |
Party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Paravoor T. K. Narayana Pillai | 1 July 1949 | 1 March 1951 | 1 year, 243 days | 1st | Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma | Indian National Congress | ||
2 | ![]() | C. Kesavan | 3 March 1951 | 12 March 1952 | 1 year, 11 days | ||||
3 | A. J. John | 12 March 1952 | 16 March 1954 | 2 years, 4 days | 2nd (1951 election) | ||||
4 | ![]() |
Pattom Thanu Pillai | 16 March 1954 | 10 February 1955 | 331 days | 3rd (1954 election) |
Praja Socialist Party | ||
5 | ![]() | Panampilly Govinda Menon | 10 February 1955 | 23 March 1956 | 1 year, 42 days | Indian National Congress | |||
– | ![]() |
Vacant[lower-alpha 4] (President's rule) | 23 March 1956 | 31 October 1956 | 222 days | Dissolved | N/A | N/A | |
List of Chief Ministers of Kerala
The Government of India's 1 November 1956 States Reorganisation Act inaugurated the new Kerala state, incorporating Malabar District, Travancore-Cochin (excluding four southern taluks and Sengottai Taluk which were merged with Tamil Nadu), and the Kasaragod taluk of South Kanara district. A new Legislative Assembly was also created, for which elections were held in 1957.
Statistics
- List of Chief Ministers by length of term
No. | Name | Party | Length of term | No: of Terms | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Longest continuous term | Total years of premiership | |||||
1 | E. K. Nayanar | CPI(M) | 4 years, 361 days | 10 years, 353 days | 3 | |
2 | K. Karunakaran | INC | 4 years, 305 days | 8 years, 315 days | 4 | |
3 | C. Achutha Menon | CPI | 6 years, 172 days | 7 years, 80 days | 2 | |
4 | Pinarayi Vijayan | CPI(M) | 6 years, 358 days | 6 years, 358 days | 2 | |
5 | Oommen Chandy | INC | 5 years, 6 days | 6 years, 256 days | 2 | |
6 | A. K. Antony | INC | 3 years, 105 days | 5 years, 347 days | 3 | |
7 | V. S. Achuthanandan | CPI(M) | 4 years, 364 days | 4 years, 364 days | 1 | |
8 | E. M. S. Namboodiripad | CPI(M)/CPI | 2 years 240 days | 4 years 357 days | 2 | |
9 | Pattom A. Thanu Pillai | PSP | 2 years 216 days | 2 years 216 days | 1 | |
10 | R. Sankar | INC | 1 year 350 days | 1 year 350 days | 1 | |
11 | P. K. Vasudevan Nair | CPI | 347 days | 347 days | 1 | |
12 | C. H. Mohammed Koya | IUML | 53 days | 53 days | 1 |
Timeline

Notes
Footnotes
- A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
- A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
- A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
- When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[4]
- A number in parentheses indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
- This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
- When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[5]
- When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[5]
- When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[5]
- As the 1965 election did not deliver a clear mandate in favour of any party or coalition, no assembly was convened, and President's rule was re-imposed.
- When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[5]
- When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[5]
References
- "Article 164 in constitution of India".
- Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9. Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Kerala as well.
- Sreedhara Menon, A. (January 2007). Kerala Charitram (2007 ed.). Kottayam: DC Books. ISBN 978-81-264-1588-5.
- Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005.
- Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005. Retrieved on 3 March 2013.
Further reading
- Chief Ministers, Ministers, and Leaders of Opposition of Kerala (PDF), Thiruvananthapuram: Secratriat of Kerala Legislature, 2018
- Chandran, VP (2018). Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus – 2019 (Malayalam ed.). Kozhikode: P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode.
- Menon, A. Sreedhara (2007). A Survey of Kerala History. DC Books. ISBN 9788126415786.
External links
