Thiruvananthapuram: Former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was on Thursday elected as the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly following the Left Democratic Front’s defeat in the 2026 Assembly elections.

The decision was reportedly taken at a meeting of the CPM state committee. According to sources, the meeting was attended by CPM general secretary M. A. Baby and senior leaders A. Vijayaraghavan and Pinarayi Vijayan, and was presided over by K. Radhakrishnan.

The Kerala Assembly election results produced a clear mandate in favour of the United Democratic Front (UDF), signalling a major political shift after ten years of Left Democratic Front (LDF) governance in the state.

In the 140-member Assembly, the UDF emerged victorious with 102 seats, comfortably surpassing the majority threshold. The Indian National Congress accounted for 63 seats, while its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), won 22 seats.

Meanwhile, the LDF’s tally dropped to 35 seats, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) securing 26 seats and the Communist Party of India winning 8. The alliance’s remaining partners managed only limited gains.

The development comes after VD Satheesan was selected by the Congress high command as the Chief Minister of Kerala.