KERALA, INDIA'S MOST DENSELY POPULATED STATE, IS FACING A NEW POLITICAL CRISIS AS THE DIVIDED COMMUNIST PARTIES DRIFT FURTHER APART. KERALA IS RULED BY A COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT, WHICH CLAIMS TO BE THE FIRST COMMUNIST AUTHORITY IN THE WORLD TO HAVE BEEN PUT INTO POWER BY BALLOT.

THE STATE HAS FACED A SERIES OF CRISES DURING THE PAST TWELVE YEARS. THE FIRST COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT WAS ELECTED IN 1957 BUT DISMISSED TWO YEARS LATER BT PRESIDENT PRASAD WHO IMPOSED PRESIDENTIAL RULE. THE COMMUNIST LOST THEIR MAJORITY IN ELECTIONS IN 1960, AND IN 1964 THE ANTI-COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT WAS DISMISSED AND PRESIDENTIAL RULE WAS REIMPOSED. ELECTIONS IN 1965 FAILED TO GIVE ANY PARTY A CLEAR MAJORITY, AND PRESIDENTIAL RULE WAS EXTENDED UNTIL MAY 1967, WHEN THE COMMUNIST AND SOCIALIST PARTIES UNITED AND GAINED AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY. THE SO-CALLED LEFT WING COMMUNIST FACTION (PRO CHINESE) GAINED 52 OF THE 133 STATE SEATS AND THE RIGHT WING COMMUNISTS (PRO-SOVIET UNION) CAPTURED 19.

THE THIRD COMMUNIST GROUP NOW EMERGING IN THE STATE IS MADE UP OF LEFT WING COMMUNISTS FOLLOWING THE DOCTRINES OF REVOLUTION PRESCRIBED BY CHAIRMAN MAO TSE-TUNG AND THE CHINESE RED GUARD MOVEMENT. THIS ORGANISATION IS ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR GRENADE ATTACKS ON TWO POLICE STATIONS IN KERALA IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS. A POLICE RADIO OPERATOR WAS KILLED AND A GIRL MEMBER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST GROUP, 19-YEAR-OLD AJITHA NARAYANAN, HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH MURDER.

IN A TENSE SITUATION, AN ANTI-COMMUNIST RESISTANCE MOVEMENT HAS BEEN FORMED, LED BY A SYRIAN CHRISTIAN - JACOBITE - ELANJICKAL JOHN JACOB. JACOB AND HIS ARMED FOLLOWERS HAVE PLEDGED THEMSELVES TO MATCH THE VIOLENCE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNISTS WITH VIOLENCE.

THE INDIAN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IS WATCHING THE SITUATION CLOSELY AND SEVERAL MINISTERS HAVE EXPRESSED CONCERN AT THE POTENTIALLY EXPLOSIVE SITUATION. KERALA IS A STATE OF ANOMALIES. AS WELL AS BEING THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED STATE - 17 MILLION PEOPLE OCCUPYING 15-THOUSAND SQUARE MILES (38-MILLION HECTARES) - IT IS ALSO INDIA'S MOST LITERATE STATE, WHERE 50 PER CENT OF THE MALES AND 30 PER CENT OF THE FEMALES CAN READ AND WRITE.

EDUCATION IS FREE AND COMPULSORY, BUT THERE IS AN ATMOSPHERE OF DISCONTENT RESULTING FROM MASSIVE UNEMPLOYMENT. EVEN HIGHLY EDUCATED YOUNG PEOPLE CAN FIND NO JOBS IN KERALA'S LIMITED INDUSTRY. KERALA, TOO, IS INDIA'S MOST CHRISTIAN STATE, WITH A QUARTER OF THE POPULATION FOLLOWERS OF CHRISTIAN FAITHS.