List of leaders of the opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly

Leader of Opposition of Kerala
Seal of the Government of Kerala
Incumbent V. D. Satheesan since 22 May 2021
Style	The Honourable
Status	Leader of Opposition
Member of	Kerala Legislative Assembly
Residence	Cantonment House , Thiruvananthapuram
Seat	Kerala Niyamasabha
Appointer	Governor of Kerala
Term length	5 years
Precursor	Ramesh Chennithala
Inaugural holder	P. T. Chacko (1957–1959)
Formation	5 April 1957 (1957-04-05)
Deputy	P. K. Kunhalikutty

The post of Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly has been held by 11 politicians since the Assembly was established in 1957. All have belonged to either the Indian National Congress, the Communist Party of India or the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The current Leader of the Opposition is V. D. Satheesan. V. S. Achuthanandan has served as Leader of the Opposition for 15 years which makes him the longest serving Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Legislative Assembly.

List of Opposition Leaders of Kerala

Key

  INC   CPI   CPI(M)

SL No.	Portrait	Name	Constituency	Party		Term of office		Assembly	Chief Minister
						From	To
1		P. T. Chacko	Vazhoor	Indian National Congress		5 April 1957	31 July 1959	1st (1957-59)	E. M. S. Namboodiripad	2 years, 117 days
2		E. M. S. Namboodiripad	Pattambi	Communist Party of India		22 February 1960	10 September 1964	2nd (1960-64)	Pattom Thanu Pillai R. Sankar	4 years, 201 days
3		K. Karunakaran	Mala	Indian National Congress		6 March 1967	1 November 1969	3rd (1967-70)	E. M. S. Namboodiripad	2 years, 240 days
(2)		E. M. S. Namboodiripad	Pattambi	Communist Party of India (Marxist)		1 November 1969	1 August 1970		C. Achutha Menon	273 days
						4 October 1970	25 March 1977	4th (1970-77)		6 years, 172 days
			Alathur			25 March 1977	22 February 1978	5th (1977-79)	K. Karunakaran A. K. Antony	334 days
(3)		K. Karunakaran	Mala	Indian National Congress		23 February 1978	13 August 1979		A. K. Antony P. K. Vasudevan Nair	1 year, 171 days
4		T. K. Ramakrishnan	Thrippunithura	Communist Party of India (Marxist)		13 August 1979	11 October 1979		P. K. Vasudevan Nair	59 days
5		P. K. Vasudevan Nair	Alappuzha	Communist Party of India		11 October 1979	1 December 1979		CH Mohammed Koya	51 days
(3)		K. Karunakaran	Mala	Indian National Congress		25 January 1980	20 October 1981	6th (1980-82)	E. K. Nayanar	1 year, 268 days
6		E. K. Nayanar	Malampuzha	Communist Party of India (Marxist)		28 December 1981	17 March 1982		K. Karunakaran	79 days
						24 May 1982	25 March 1987	7th (1982-87)		4 years, 305 days
(3)		K. Karunakaran	Mala	Indian National Congress		26 March 1987	17 June 1991	8th (1987-91)	E. K. Nayanar	4 years, 83 days
(6)		E. K. Nayanar	Thrikaripur	Communist Party of India (Marxist)		24 June 1991	29 February 1992	9th (1991-96)	K. Karunakaran	250 days
7		V. S. Achuthanandan	Mararikulam			1 March 1992	9 May 1996		K. Karunakaran A. K. Antony	4 years, 69 days
8		A. K. Antony	Cherthala	Indian National Congress		20 May 1996	13 May 2001	10th (1996-2001)	E. K. Nayanar	4 years, 358 days
(7)		V. S. Achuthanandan	Malampuzha	Communist Party of India (Marxist)		17 May 2001	12 May 2006	11th (2001-06)	A. K. Antony Oommen Chandy	4 years, 360 days
9		Oommen Chandy	Puthuppally	Indian National Congress		18 May 2006	14 May 2011	12th (2006-11)	V. S. Achuthanandan	4 years, 361 days
(7)		V. S. Achuthanandan	Malampuzha	Communist Party of India (Marxist)		18 May 2011	20 May 2016	13th (2011-16)	Oommen Chandy	5 years, 2 days
10		Ramesh Chennithala	Haripad	Indian National Congress		25 May 2016	20 May 2021	14th (2016-21)	Pinarayi Vijayan	4 years, 360 days
11		V. D. Satheesan	Paravur			22 May 2021	Incumbent	15th (2021-)		3 years, 183 days

Leaders of Opposition who have served as Chief Minister

S.No.	Name	No: of terms as Chief Minister	Tenure as Chief Minister	No: of terms served as Leader of the Opposition	Tenure as Leader of the Opposition
1.	E.M.S. Namboodiripad	2	1957-59, 1967-69	4	1960-64, 1969-70, 1970-77, 1977-78
2.	K. Karunakaran	4	1977, 1981-82, 1982-87, 1991-95	4	1967-69, 1978-79, 1980-81, 1987-91
3.	A.K. Antony	3	1977-78, 1995-96, 2001-04	1	1996-2001
4.	P.K. Vasudevan Nair	1	1978-79	1	1979
5.	E.K. Nayanar	3	1980-81, 1987-91, 1996-2001	3	1981-82, 1982-87, 1991-92
6.	Oommen Chandy	2	2004-06, 2011-16	1	2006-11
7.	V.S. Achuthanandan	1	2006-11	3	1992-96, 2001-06, 2011-16

E.M.S. Namboodiripad, A.K. Antony, E.K. Nayanar, Oommen Chandy and P.K. Vasudevan Nair first served as Chief Ministers before occupying the post of Leader of the Opposition.

K. Karunakaran and V.S. Achuthanandan served as Leader of the Opposition before donning the mantle of Chief Ministership.

P.T. Chacko, T.K. Ramakrishnan, Ramesh Chennithala and incumbent Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan have not served as Chief Minister. Conversely, Pattom Thanu Pillai, R. Sankar, C. Achutha Menon, C.H. Mohammed Koya and incumbent Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have not served as Leader of the Opposition.

Statistics

No.	Name	Party		Length of term		No: of terms
				Terms	Total years in office
1	V. S. Achuthanandan	CPI(M)		1992-96, 2001-06, 2011-16	14 years, 65 days	3
2	E. M. S. Namboodiripad	CPI(M)/CPI		1960-64, 1969-70, 1970-77, 1977-78	12 years, 220 days	4
3	K. Karunakaran	INC		1967-69, 1978-79, 1980-81, 1987-91	8 years, 118 days	4
4	E. K. Nayanar	CPI(M)		1981-82, 1982-87, 1991-92	5 years, 270 days	3
5	Oommen Chandy	INC		2016-21	4 years, 361 days	1
6	Ramesh Chennithala			2006-11	4 years, 360 days	1
7	A. K. Antony			1996-2001	4 years, 358 days	1
8	V. D. Satheesan			2021 onwards	3 years, 183 days	1
9	P. T. Chacko			1957-59	2 years, 117 days	1
10	T. K. Ramakrishnan	CPI(M)		1979	60 days	1
11	P. K. Vasudevan Nair	CPI		1979	51 days	1

Timeline

See also

• Kerala Council of Ministers
• Deputy Chief Ministers of Kerala
• Chief Ministers of Kerala

References

• Chief Ministers, Ministers, and Leaders of Opposition of Kerala (PDF), Thiruvananthapuram: Secratriat of Kerala Legislature, 2018

Further reading

• Chandran, VP (2018). Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus - 2019 (Malayalam ed.). Kozhikode: P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode.
• Menon, A. Sreedhara (2007). A Survey of Kerala History. DC Books. ISBN 9788126415786.