Communism in Kerala refers to the strong presence of communist ideas in the Indian state of Kerala. In addition to Kerala, the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura have had multiple democratically elected Marxist governments, and change takes place in the government by regular multiparty electoral processes. The communism of Kerala has provided Indian communist stalwarts such as M. N. Govindan Nair, C. Achutha Menon, K. Damodaran, T. V. Thomas, N. E. Balaram, E. M. S. Namboodiripad, A. K. Gopalan, K. R. Gouri Amma, P. K. Vasudevan Nair and C. K. Chandrappan. Today the two largest communist parties in Kerala politics are the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India. The Left Democratic Front is a coalition of left-wing political parties in the state of Kerala and is one of the two major political coalitions in Kerala, each of which have been in power alternatively for the last two decades. The coalition led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) consists of the Communist Party of India, the Janata Dal (Secular), the Nationalist Congress Party, the Indian National League, the Kerala Congress (Anti-merger Group), and the Indian National Congress (Socialist). History Formation of a socialist wing An important feature of the anti-Colonial struggles in Malabar district, Cochin Kingdom and Travancore Kingdom (these three regions will later form Kerala state, along with some regions from South Kanara) in the 1920s and 1930s was the increasing involvement of peasants and workers. The peasant and labour movements of the 1930s were to a great extent the cause as well as the consequence of the emergence of a powerful left wing in politics. In 1934, the left anti-Colonials joined together and organized the Congress Socialist Party with C. K. Govindan Nair as Secretary within the Congress Party. A powerful factor that helped the growth of the left movement was the support it received from the radical section of the anti-Colonial native Muslims in Malabar. Left groups started functioning in several parts of Malabar and soon the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee (KPCC) was dominated by them. It was only by 1938-39 Malabar district, Cochin Kingdom and Travancore Kingdom were fully drawn into the anti-British struggle for self-rule as well as the struggle for responsible Government in the Princely States. The leftists preferred to remain organizationally within the Congress and call themselves Socialists. Thus both the left and right groups joined