1996 Kerala Legislative Assembly election

The 1996 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held in May 1996 to elect members to the Kerala State Assembly. Polls were held simultaneously in all 140 seats and resulted in a voter turnout of 71.16%.

The then Leader of opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan lost from Mararikulam, a Marxist bastion. It is only the second instance in Kerala that the chief ministerial candidate of a major party lost in an election (In 1965, R. Sankar, former Congress Chief Minister lost from the Attingal constituency. However, in that election, no party was able to form a government). On 20 May 1996, a 14 member cabinet of Left Democratic Front led by former Chief Minister E. K. Nayanar was sworn in. Nayanar was not an elected member of the assembly at that time, and was later elected from Thalassery Constituency. Nayanar subsequently went on to become the longest serving Chief Minister of the state.

By-constituency

 * Bye Polls in 1996
 * Bye Polls in 1998