List of chief ministers of Kerala facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chief minister of Kerala
Emblem of Kerala
Incumbent Pinarayi Vijayan since 25 May 2016
Chief minister's office
Style	The Honourable (Formal) Mr./Mrs. Chief Minister (Informal)
Abbreviation	CM
Member of	Cabinet Kerala Legislative Assembly
Reports to	Governor of Kerala Kerala Legislative Assembly
Residence	Cliff House, Thiruvananthapuram
Seat	Kerala Government Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram
Appointer	Governor of Kerala
Term length	At the pleasure of the governor of Kerala
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; 68 years ago (1957-04-05)
Deputy	Vacant
Salary	₹185,000 (US$3,100)/monthly ₹2,220,000 (US$38,000)/annually

The Chief Minister of Kerala is like the main leader or "head executive" of the state of Kerala in India. Think of them as the captain of the state's government team. They have the real power to make decisions and lead the state.

After elections for the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the state's Governor usually asks the party (or group of parties) that won the most seats to form the government. The Chief Minister then chooses a team of ministers, called the Cabinet. This team works together and is responsible to the Assembly. If the Chief Minister has the support of the Assembly, they usually serve for five years. There's no limit to how many times someone can be Chief Minister.

A Brief History of Kerala's Leadership

After India became independent from British rule in 1947, the kings of Travancore and Cochin started having elected governments. These governments were led by a Prime Minister.

On July 1, 1949, Travancore and Cochin joined together to form the state of Travancore-Cochin. Other parts of what is now Kerala, like the Malabar District and Kasaragod, were part of the Madras Legislative Assembly.

How Kerala State Was Formed

On November 1, 1956, India's map was redrawn based on languages. This is when the modern state of Kerala was created. It brought together all the regions where people spoke Malayalam. This included Cochin, Malabar, Travancore, and the Kasaragod region.

The very first election for the Kerala Legislative Assembly happened in February–March 1957. The first Assembly was formed on April 5, 1957. It had 127 members.

Since then, 12 different people have served as the Chief Minister of Kerala. The first was E. M. S. Namboodiripad from the Communist Party of India. His time as Chief Minister was cut short by something called "President's rule." This happens when the central government takes control of a state's administration for a period. Kerala has been under President's rule seven times, for a total of four years. The last time was in 1982.

Since 1982, the Chief Minister's job has mostly been held by leaders from either the Indian National Congress or the Communist Party of India (Marxist). E. K. Nayanar has been the Chief Minister for the longest time, serving for almost 11 years in total. Pinarayi Vijayan is the current Chief Minister. His government, from the Left Democratic Front, has been in power since May 25, 2016.

Understanding the Tables

The tables below show important information about the Chief Ministers. Here's what the symbols mean:

• Assassinated or died in office
• Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
• Resigned
• Resigned following a no-confidence motion (meaning they lost the support of the Assembly)

Leaders Before Kerala State

Before Kerala became a state, different regions had their own leaders.

Prime Ministers of Travancore (1948–49)

No	Portrait	Name	Term of Office			Assembly	Appointed by (Monarch)	Party
1		P. A. Thanu Pillai	24 March 1948	17 October 1948	210 days	Representative Body (1948–49)	Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma	Indian National Congress
2		P. T. K. Narayana Pillai	22 October 1948	1 July 1949	253 days

Prime Ministers of Cochin (1947–49)

No	Portrait	Name	Term of Office			Assembly	Appointed by (Monarch)	Party
1		P. 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	1 July 1949	284 days	Legislative Assembly (1948–49)

Prime Ministers of Travancore-Cochin (1949–50)

No	Portrait	Name	Term of Office			Assembly	Appointed by (Rajpramukh)	Party
1		T. K. Narayana Pillai	1 July 1949	26 January 1950	209 days	1st	Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma	Indian National Congress

Chief Ministers of Travancore-Cochin (1950–56)

After India's independence in 1947, Travancore and Cochin joined to form Travancore-Cochin on July 1, 1949. On January 1, 1950, Travancore-Cochin became a recognized state.

No	Portrait	Name	Term of Office			Assembly	Appointed by (Rajpramukh)	Party
1		T. K. Narayana Pillai	26 January 1950	28 February 1951	1 year, 33 days	1st	Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma	Indian National Congress
2		C. Kesavan	28 February 1951	12 March 1952	1 year, 13 days
3		A. J. John	12 March 1952	16 March 1954	2 years, 4 days	2nd (1951 election)
4		P. A. Thanu Pillai	16 March 1954	10 February 1955	331 days	3rd (1954 election)		Praja Socialist Party
5		P. Govinda Menon	10 February 1955	23 March 1956	1 year, 42 days			Indian National Congress
–		Vacant (President's rule)	23 March 1956	31 October 1956	222 days	Dissolved	N/A

Chief Ministers of Kerala

On November 1, 1956, the Indian government passed a law called the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. This law created the new state of Kerala. It combined Travancore-Cochin with the Malabar district and Kasaragod region from the Madras State. Some southern parts of Travancore-Cochin went to Madras state, and the Laccadive and Minicoy Islands became a separate Union Territory. A new Legislative Assembly was also formed, and elections were held in 1957.

No	Portrait	Name	Constituency	Tenure			Assembly (election)	Party		Ministry
		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	1 November 1956	5 April 1957	155 days	Dissolved		N/A	N/A
1		E. M. S. Namboodiripad (1909–1998)	Nileshwaram	5 April 1957	31 July 1959	2 years, 117 days	1st (1957 election)		Communist Party of India	Namboodiripad I
		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	31 July 1959	22 February 1960	206 days	Dissolved		N/A	N/A
2		P. A. Thanu Pillai (1885–1970)	Trivandrum II	22 February 1960	26 September 1962	2 years, 216 days	2nd (1960 election)		Praja Socialist Party	Thanu Pillai
3		R. Sankar (1909–1972)	Cannanore I	26 September 1962	10 September 1964	1 year, 350 days			Indian National Congress	Sankar
		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	10 September 1964	25 March 1965	2 years, 177 days	Dissolved		N/A	N/A
				25 March 1965	6 March 1967		Dissolved (1965 election)		N/A	N/A
(1)		E. M. S. Namboodiripad (1909–1998)	Pattambi	6 March 1967	1 November 1969	2 years, 240 days	3rd (1967 election)		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	Namboodiripad II
4		C. Achutha Menon (1913–1991)	Kottarakkara	1 November 1969	3 August 1970	275 days			Communist Party of India	Achutha Menon I
		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	4 August 1970	3 October 1970	60 days	Dissolved		N/A	N/A
(4)		C. Achutha Menon (1913–1991)	Kodakara	4 October 1970	25 March 1977	6 years, 172 days	4th (1970 election)		Communist Party of India	Achutha Menon II
5		K. Karunakaran (1918–2010)	Mala	25 March 1977	27 April 1977	33 days	5th (1977 election)		Indian National Congress	Karunakaran I
6		A. K. Antony (b. 1940)	Kazhakkuttom	27 April 1977	29 October 1978	1 year, 185 days				Antony I
7		P. K. Vasudevan Nair (1926–2005)	Alleppey	29 October 1978	12 October 1979	348 days			Communist Party of India	Vasudevan Nair
8		C. H. Mohammed Koya (1927–1983)	Malappuram	12 October 1979	4 December 1979	53 days			Indian Union Muslim League	Koya
		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	5 December 1979	25 January 1980	51 days	Dissolved		N/A	N/A
9		E. K. Nayanar (1919–2004)	Malampuzha	25 January 1980	20 October 1981	1 year, 268 days	6th (1980 election)		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	Nayanar I
		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	21 October 1981	28 December 1981	68 days			N/A	N/A
(5)		K. Karunakaran (1918–2010)	Mala	28 December 1981	17 March 1982	79 days			Indian National Congress	Karunakaran II
		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	17 March 1982	23 May 1982	67 days	Dissolved		N/A	N/A
(5)		K. Karunakaran (1918–2010)	Mala	24 May 1982	26 March 1987	4 years, 306 days	7th (1982 election)		Indian National Congress	Karunakaran III
(9)		E. K. Nayanar (1919–2004)	Trikaripur	26 March 1987	24 June 1991	4 years, 90 days	8th (1987 election)		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	Nayanar II
(5)		K. Karunakaran (1918–2010)	Mala	24 June 1991	22 March 1995	3 years, 271 days	9th (1991 election)		Indian National Congress	Karunakaran IV
(6)		A. K. Antony (b. 1940)	Thirurangadi	22 March 1995	20 May 1996	1 year, 59 days				Antony II
(9)		E. K. Nayanar (1919–2004)	Thalassery	20 May 1996	17 May 2001	4 years, 362 days	10th (1996 election)		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	Nayanar III
(6)		A. K. Antony (b. 1940)	Cherthala	17 May 2001	31 August 2004	3 years, 106 days	11th (2001 election)		Indian National Congress	Antony III
10		Oommen Chandy (1943–2023)	Puthuppally	31 August 2004	18 May 2006	1 year, 260 days				Chandy I
11		V. S. Achuthanandan (b. 1923)	Malampuzha	18 May 2006	18 May 2011	5 years, 0 days	12th (2006 election)		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	Achuthanandan
(10)		Oommen Chandy (1943–2023)	Puthuppally	18 May 2011	25 May 2016	5 years, 7 days	13th (2011 election)		Indian National Congress	Chandy II
12		Pinarayi Vijayan (b. 1945)	Dharmadam	25 May 2016	19 May 2021	9 years, 29 days	14th (2016 election)		Communist Party of India (Marxist)	Pinarayi I
				20 May 2021	At Present		15th (2021 election)			Pinarayi II

Chief Minister Statistics

Here are some interesting facts about the Chief Ministers of Kerala.

Chief Ministers by Length of Term

This table shows who served the longest as Chief Minister.

Chief Ministers by Political Party

This table shows how many Chief Ministers each political party has had, and for how long.

Timeline of Chief Ministers

This timeline shows when each Chief Minister served.

See also

• List of current Indian chief ministers
• Kerala Council of Ministers
• Deputy Chief Ministers of Kerala