Vadassery Damodaran Satheesan (born 31 May 1964) is an Indian politician from the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, representing Paravur Assembly Constituency in

Ernakulam District Ernakulam, ; ISO: ''Eṟaṇākuḷaṁ'', in Malayalam: എറണാകുളം), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, that takes its name from the eponymous city division in Kochi. It is situated in the central part o ...

, serving as Leader of the Opposition (U D F) in the 15th

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 28 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 c ...

. Satheesan succeeded Congress leader

Ramesh Chennithala Ramesh Chennithala, , (born 25 May 1956), is an Indian politician, and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly. He also served as the state Home Minister in th ...

as the Leader of Opposition after the

2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election The 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held in Kerala on 6 April 2021 to elect 140 members to the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly. The results were declared on 2 May. The election saw the incumbent Left Democratic Front (LDF) reta ...

. He also serves as the Vice President of

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (abbreviated as Kerala P. C. C. or the K. P. C. C.) is the state unit of the Indian National Congress in Kerala. The Indian National Congress currently leads the United Democratic Front alliance, the Oppositi ...

Early life and career

Satheesan was born to K. Damodara Menon and V. Vilasini Amma on 31 May 1964 in

Nettoor Nettoor (also spelled as Nettur aka Tirunettur) is a region in the city of Kochi. It is around from Vytilla Junction and around from Ernakulam Junction Railway Station. Nettoor is located on Panangad Island and is a part of Maradu Municipali ...

. He completed his primary education from Panangad High School, under-graduation from

Sacred Heart College, Thevara Sacred Heart College, Kochi is an institution of higher education affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. It was established in 1944. In the year 2000, the college was accredited by the National Accreditation and Assessment Cou ...

, and post-graduation in Social Work (MSW) from

Rajagiri College of Social Sciences Rajagiri College of Social Sciences is an autonomous higher educational institution located in Kalamassery, Kochi in the Indian state of Kerala. History Rajagiri College of Social Sciences was started in 1955 under the University of Madras. In ...

. He then completed his Bachelor of Laws (L L B) from

Kerala Law Academy Law College Kerala Law Academy (KLA), also referred to as the Kerala Law Academy Law College, is a self financing law college in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Founded in 1967, it is the first, and was for many years the only, self financing law instit ...

and Master of Laws (L L M) from

Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram also known as GLC Trivandrum is one of the institutions imparting graduate and post graduate legal education in India. Affiliated to the University of Kerala, it is the second law college in Kerala a ...

. For a brief period Satheesan practised law in the

Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the 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 High Court has the power to issu ...

. He is married to R. Lakshmi Priya, and the couple have a daughter Unnimaya.

Public career

Satheesan was the chairman of Mahatma Gandhi University Union during 1986-1987. He has also served as the secretary for National Students' Union. . VD Satheesan political debut was in 1996 when he lost to CPI's candidate P Raju in the Kerala Legislative Assembly elections. * Satheesan was first elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2001 when he was practising as an advocate in the Kerala High Court. * In 2006 Kerala Assembly Elections, he won the election in Paravur Constituency against K M Dinakaran. * In the next Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2011, he was again elected by defeating Pannyan Raveendran of

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

by 11349 votes. * In 2016, he was re-elected as M L A from Paravur Constituency by defeating Sarada Mohan of

by a margin of 20,634 votes. He served as the Chief Whip of the

in the 12th Assembly. * In 2021, he was elected to

Kerala legislative assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 28 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 c ...

again for the fifth time from the Paravur constituency by defeating M. T. Nixon of

by a margin of 21,301 votes. On 22 May 2021,

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 typically consists of fifteen members electe ...

declared V D Satheesan as the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satheesan, V.D. People from Ernakulam district Malayali politicians Living people Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala 1964 births Kerala MLAs 2001–2006 Kerala MLAs 2006–2011 Kerala MLAs 2011–2016 Kerala MLAs 2016–2021 Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram alumni Leaders of the Opposition in Kerala