Staff Writer Meera Mohanraj details how Kerala has become the model state to follow.
Kerala translates to ‘land of the coconuts’ in Malayalam, appropriate given their ubiquity in the landscape. Once similarly prevalent were proudly draped red flags and Che Guevara posters so ‘land of the communists’ may have been an equally fitting name. These symbols remain on display today (though less fervently so) and the campaign they represent has endured.
In 1957, Kerala held their first assembly election and voted the Communist Party of India into power: the first time in global history that a communist party had been democratically elected to government.
68 years later and the Left Democratic Front (LDF), an alliance led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), is continuing the progressive vision outlined in their 1957 manifesto which advocated for wage increases, job security and nationalising forests and foreign owned lands. Another key promise was delivered on November 1st 2025 when Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared that the state had eradicated extreme poverty.
The first state in the country to make such a declaration, their Extreme Poverty Eradication Project (EPEP) was completed a year ahead of schedule and is indicative of the Left functioning at its best to improve standards of living from the ground up. Further north in India, however, the conservative BJP-majority states are averse to adopting the Kerala model as a blueprint to alleviate destitution.
What is Extreme Poverty and How Did Kerala Tackle it?
The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1.90 per day. In 2021, the EPEP began to combat this with a widespread community-led initiative to identify those living in extreme poverty based upon stress factors of food, health, income and housing. Over 1.4 million people engaged in the process to find the poorest in Keralan society, and this extensive research identified more than 64,000 families in cases of extreme poverty. Subsequently, the micro-plans were carried out. This included providing many people with rights documents and emergency services, monthly free food kits and ration cards.
Whilst the EPEP launched just four years ago, the groundwork to execute such an extensive local investigation can be traced back decades. A vital component was the support from community worker organisations, including Kudumbashree. Kudumbashree, meaning ‘prosperity of the family’ in Malayalam, is a grassroots programme focusing on poverty eradication and women’s empowerment. The Government of Kerala implemented it in the late nineties under the official name of State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM). With over 4.5 million members at present, it is a vast women’s network that was born of a commitment to decentralisation. Mobilizing residents and encouraging women to contribute to local politics has aided both causes; simultaneously enabling female agency and implementing their abilities to help those in dire need.
Kerala, an Indian Anomaly?
The Progressive International has hailed this milestone a major victory for the global communist movement, but India as a nation is not so quick to applaud. Kerala’s Leftist history is anomalous in comparison to the right-wing politics dominating contemporary India. Even between neighbouring villages, regional differences are stark, but the north-south divide is a gulf that has only widened in recent years with the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP has promoted a conservative, Hindu-nationalist ideology, contributed to the global right-wing renaissance and become the largest party in the world.
Kerala is the southernmost state of India. As the BJP try to creep up into power, Kerala BJP president made claims that the alleviation of extreme poverty was due to the work of Central schemes that they, not the LDF, were responsible for. The BJP are forcefully attempting to permeate and radicalise the South, but with a near perfect literacy rate, the population seldom forget the socialist values which have governed them steadily since the mid-twentieth century.
Kerala’s initial communist revolution was a peasant uprising, a fight against colonialism, although the currently governing communist party is communist only by name. The constitutional infrastructure they operate within was outlined by the Congress Party so, by necessity, their setup is characteristic of a bourgeois democratic system. The plans of 1957 to nationalise the forests and foreign-owned estates have been sidelined. In a country so entrenched in capitalism, compromise is the only way to be productive but, meanwhile, the history of communism is lasting and deeply embedded into the culture. Look to the unassuming base for the Red Youngs Sports Club where you will see a venerated framed portrait of Vladimir Lenin. The building was once the office of the local Communist Party, thus the core of the club beats to the rhythm of revolution.
Despite India’s economic growth under Modi, his presidency has stretched the income gap, with the top 1% now holding 40% of the country’s wealth. This being the case, it is all the more significant that Kerala has chosen to invest with the intention to aid those most in need. The recent success of the EPEP is a semblance of hope that the Indian Left can be effective policy changemakers. Working in service of the impoverished subsequently lifts the whole the population, as exemplified by Kudumbashree and their devotion to elevating women.
The BJP’s intolerant ideology emphasises the sanctity of the caste system, perpetuates wealth inequality and keeps the high-castes rich and privileged. Each state has different pressures, but these prejudiced beliefs are completely antithetical to the principles that have contributed to Kerala’s prosperity. Land reform, redistribution, a multi-faith society, and a secular government are tenets that create fairer social infrastructure for all.
