Kerala can boast of having the highest literacy rate and highest human development index of any state in India. Many contribute this to their progressive political agenda over the past fifty years. In 1957 it became the first place in the world to have a democratically elected Communist Party, with the highest voter turnout in India. Political history in Kerala shows a trend of an alternating elected right and left government, which results in an increase in public welfare activities, much to the benefit of the common man. Political icons are commonly scene as one moves through Kerala. Painted images such as the hammer and sickle are found on roadside walls and the sides of buildings. Statues of Indira Gandhi, portrait of Marx, Engels, and Lenin can also be spotted. I had read that strikes and union disputes were a common element of Kerala's politically engaged society, but it was proven the first day we arrived when we came across one such public protest. Anthropologist Bill McKibben says “Though Kerala is mostly a land of paddy-covered plains, statistically Kerala stands out as the Mount Everest of social development; there's truly no place like it.”
Currently Kerala parliament contains two major political alliances: the United Democratic Front (UDF—led by the Indian National Congress)and the Left Democratic Front (LDF—led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). The belief in redistribution and the common good is at the root of the Kerala model of development and the unique nature of Kerala when compared to other parts of India.
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