Kodikunnil Suresh (born 4 June 1962) is an Indian politician and

Congress Working Committee The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress. It was formed in December 1920 at Nagpur session of INC which was headed by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. It is composed of senior party leaders and is r ...

Member (Special Invitee). He is the working-president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). He filed his nomination for Loksabha Speaker post as the candidate of

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is a big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance of several List of political parties in India, political parties in India led by the country's largest opposition party ...

and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha Speaker Election. He is the

chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

of Congress Parliamentary Party in Loksabha. He was a former Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment. He is a member of the Eighteenth Lok Sabha representing Mavelikara in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. He has been elected as the member of

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

for the eighth time. He has also served as the Secretary of the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from States and union territories of India, state-level Pradesh Congress Commit ...

(AICC).

Early life and education

He was born in Kodikunnil,

Thiruvananthapuram district Thiruvananthapuram District () is the List of districts of Kerala, southernmost district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. The district was created in 1949, with its headquarters in the city of Thiruvananth ...

to a poor family, as the youngest son of Kunjan and Thankamma. He did his pre-degree from Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram and graduation in LL.B from Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram.

Political career

He was elected to the

for the first time in 1989 and thereafter he won consecutively in the 1991, 1996 and 1999 General Elections to the Lok Sabha from Adoor constituency for four straight terms. However he was defeated in the 1998 and 2004 general elections. Kodikunnil served as the member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and member of

. He also serves as Kerala Pradesh congress committee General Secretary, DCC President Kollam. In the general election to the Lok Sabha in 2009, he contested from Mavelikara Lok Sabha constituency and defeated R. S. Anil of the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

with a margin of 48,048 votes. On 19 September 2018, he was appointed as working-president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). He continued to win in

2009 Indian general election General elections were held in India in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009 to elect the members of the fifteenth Lok Sabha. With a registered electorate of 716 million and a turnout of 417 million voters, it was the l ...

2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and vote ...

and

2024 Indian general election General elections were held in Elections in India, India from 2024 elections in India, 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases, to elect all List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha, 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the res ...

from Mavelikara Lok Sabha constituency and is currently the longest serving Lok Sabha MP as he has remained MP for 29 years, winning the elections 8 times. The position of pro tem speaker, assigned for administering the oath taking ceremony of the elected MPs, is traditionally given to the senior most member. However, this tradition was broken in 2024 after Bhartruhari Mahtab was elected as pro tem speaker. In response, the INDIA alliance nominated K. Suresh as candidate for post of speaker, triggering an election for the post for the first time since independence.

Controversies

His victory in the 2009 general election was declared void by the

Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the List of high courts in India, highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Hig ...

over the allegation that his caste certificate was fake, and that he was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. This verdict was later reversed by the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suresh, Kodikunnil Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala 1962 births Living people Malayali politicians Indian Christians India MPs 2009–2014 Lok Sabha members from Kerala India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2014–2019 People from Thiruvananthapuram district India MPs 2019–2024 Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram alumni India MPs 2024–2029 Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance candidates in 2024 Indian general election