[2] The United Front which won the 1977 election, had dissolved in 1979 which lead to the creation of two long-running alliance formula in the state: On 25 January 1980, a 17 member ministry headed by E.K.

Both of these factions had trouble with the CPI (M) style of rule, and withdrew their support on 16 October 1981, leading to Nayanar’s resignation 4 days later.

However Karunakaran couldn’t build a comfortable majority either, as troubles began to rise as the Congress (S) split into two factions, 16 members joining the Antony group and six remaining as members of the Chacko group, along with a split in Janata Party.

With these shifts, the Assembly was divided exactly down the middle, with the ruling front of the Congress and the CPI (M)-led Opposition both having 70 MLAs each.

The deadlock finally came to an end when Lonappan Nambadan, a founder-member of the Kerala Congress – then allied with the ruling United Democratic Front – voted against the government.