Kerala Government

Kerala is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy like other Indian states and most Commonwealth countries. There are three branches of government namely the legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. The unicameral legislature, known as the legislative assembly, comprises elected members and special office bearers (the Speaker and Deputy Speaker). The members of the legislative assembly elect one of its members as its Speaker and another as Deputy Speaker. Assembly meetings are presided over by the Speaker. The Deputy Speaker performs the functions of the speaker in his absence. Kerala has 140 Assembly constituencies. The state sends 20 members to the Lok Sabha and 9 to the Rajya Sabha, the Indian Parliament's upper house.

The executive of the state consists of the Governor, the Chief Minister and the council of Ministers. The Governor is appointed by the President of India. The Governor is only the nominal head of the state. The Governor appoints the leader of the majority party in the Legislative Assembly, as the Chief Minister, who is the de facto head of state and is vested with most of the executive powers. The other ministers are appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. The council of ministers is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly.

Judiciary is separated from the Executive and the Legislature and the constitution provides an independent and impartial judiciary. The judiciary comprises the Kerala High Court (including a Chief Justice combined with 26 permanent and two additional (pro tempore) justices) and a system of lower courts. The High Court of Kerala is the highest court for the state; it also decides cases from the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

Auxiliary authorities known as panchayats, for which local body elections are regularly held, govern local affairs.

The state's 2005