Kerala Assembly Election 2021: Key dates, alliances, poll promises and other details you need to know

Kerala is set to elect a new assembly on April 6, 2021. The state has 140 seats and a party or alliance must secure 71 seats to form the government. The tenure of the members of the 14th Legislative Assembly in the state will end on 1 June 2021.

Here's everything you need to know before the polling begins:

Key dates

The Kerala state assembly elections will be held in a single phase. The number of polling booths in Kerala has been extended from 21,498 to 40,771.

> Date of Issue of Gazette Notification: 12.03.2021
> Last Date of Nominations: 19.03.2021
> Date for Scrutiny of Nominations:20.03.2021
> Last Date for Withdrawal of candidatures: 22.03.2021
> Date of Poll: 06.04.2021
> Date of Counting: 02.05.2021
> Date before which election shall be completed: 04.05.2021

Parties and alliances

For almost four decades now, Kerala has voted the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF) to power alternately.

LDF, an alliance of center-left to left-wing political parties, is currently in power. The coalition consists of CPI(M), CPI, and other smaller parties., while UDF, an alliance of center to centre-left political parties, is founded by Congress leader K Karunakaran in 1978.

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National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is an alliance of centre to right-wing parties. The Kerala unit was constituted in 2016 and the coalition comprises Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bharath Dharma Jana Sena and a number of smaller parties.

Poll promises

In its manifesto for the assembly polls, the Congress-led UDF has promised a Rs 2,000 'pension' for homemakers, Rs 72,000 annually to the poor under 'Nyay Yojana' and five lakh homes for the underprivileged.

UDF has also promised to set up a Ministry of Happiness in Kerala if it is voted to power in the state in the upcoming Assembly elections 2021. The UDF's campaign slogan "Naadu Nannakan UDF" roughly translates to ‘UDF for Kerala’s Advancement'.

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On February 28, the LDF released its campaign slogan for the Assembly election, "Urappanu LDF" meaning 'LDF for sure.' In its manifesto released on March 19, the LDF promised to increase spending on social welfare, health and education.

It promised an increase in monthly welfare pension from Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,500. An estimated 60 lakh persons would benefit. It would include homemakers in the expanded pension net.

The BJP-led NDA's campaign slogan is "Puthiya Keralam Modikkoppam" or 'New Kerala with Modi. The NDA is yet to release its manifesto for the 2021 polls.

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However, according to Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, the reconstitution of Devaswom Boards to entrust the administration of temples with the believers and a law to prevent 'love jihad' in the state will be a part of the NDA election manifesto.

Key candidates and their constituencies

> Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan: Dharmadam
> BJP state president K Surendran: Manjeshwaram
> BJP state vice president Sobha Surendran: Kazhakuttam
> Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran: Kazhakuttam
> Minister of Health KK Shailaja: Mattanur
> Former CM Oommen Chandy: Puthuppally
> Minister for Water Resources K Krishnankutty: Chittur
> Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan: Kanhangad
> Metroman E Sreedharan: Palakkad
> Former state president Kummanam Rajasekharan: Nemom
> Former DGP Jacob Thomas: Irinjalakuda

The current Legislative Assembly is the 14th Assembly since it was formed. The Vijayan-led government's term will end on May 31, 2021.

EC received 7,255 total nominations, of which 4,526 were accepted and 2,726 rejected, according to the updated data on the official website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu.

After filing of nominations opened on March 12, as many as 6,183 men, 1,069 women and three transpersons (total 7,255) submitted their papers till 3 pm on March 19, the last date to file nominations.

Recap of previous Kerala Assembly election

The Kerala Legislative Assembly consists of 140 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs), elected from single-seat constituencies, with five years term, unless dissolved.

The last assembly election was held on May 16, 2016, at 21,498 polling stations, set up at 12,038 locations, with 500 model polling stations.

The results were announced on May 19, with LDF emerging victorious winning 91 out of 140 seats in the legislature.

The incumbent UDF front stood defeated with just 47 seats. The NDA and Independent PC George bagged one seat each. George later formed the party Kerala Janapaksham (Secular).

The first Kerala Legislative Assembly was formed in 1957. The Assembly had 127 MLAs, including a nominated member. The current delimitation committee of 2010 reaffirmed the total number of seats at 140.

Moneycontrol's full coverage of Kerala Assembly Election