Pinarayi Vijayan | Photo credit: File Photo
Former Kerala Chief Minister and CPI(M) Political Bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan will be the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly. The CPI(M) state committee meeting held on Thursday (May 14, 2026) unanimously elected him as the president of the legislature party.
As the move coincides with the selection of former opposition leader VD Satheesan as chief minister, the development is once again setting the stage for the high-voltage political rivalry between the Congress leader and Mr Vijayan that has dominated the assembly for the past five years.
The state committee meeting chaired by K. Radhakrishnan was attended by party general secretary MA Baby, state secretary MV Govindan, senior leader A. Vijayaraghavan and Mr. Vijayan.
This will be the first time that Mr. Vijayan, a former state secretary of the CPI(M), will assume the post of Leader of the Opposition. The veteran CPI(M) leader served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for two consecutive terms from 2016 to 2026.
Despite the Left Democratic Front (LDF) suffering a major electoral setback after a decade in power, the CPI(M) leadership decided that Mr. Vijayan himself should lead the opposition benches in the Assembly. There was speculation in political circles as to who would take over as Leader of the Opposition after the LDF was reduced to 35 seats in the 140-member House.
Former finance minister and Kottarakkara MLA-elect KN Balagopal was said to be in contention for the post.
The CPI(M) decision also comes amid internal discussions within the LDF on the reasons behind the coalition’s electoral defeat. Mr. Baby recently defended Mr. Vijayan by saying that the responsibility for the defeat lies with the collective leadership and not with a single individual.
Elected from Dharmadam constituency for the third consecutive term, Mr. Vijayan will enter the Assembly for the seventh time in his political career. Although he retained the seat, his margin of victory fell sharply compared to the previous two elections. He won by 36,905 votes in 2016 and by 50,123 votes in 2021. This time he defeated United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Vice President Abdul Rasheed by a margin of 19,247 votes after a closely watched contest.
Published – 14 May 2026 20:20 IST
