The book discusses how the major political parties emerged and evolved in Travancore, Cochin and Malabar, the three regions that went on to be part of Kerala on November 1,1956. The political scene in the late 1940s and 1950s clearly evidence the rise of a fragmentation of the political parties, the basis of which can be traced back to the schisms in the society in the pre-independence period. The need for coalition politics was felt by the political parties in Travancore as early as in 1952. Kerala’s party system became further fragmented after splits in major parties like the Communist Party and the Congress in 1964.