 At present, he is a CPI (M) Polit Bureau Member and CPI (M) Parliamentary Party Deputy Leader.He was elected as an MLA to Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1982, 1987, 2001, 2006 and 2011 from Thalassery.On 23 February 2015, he was elected as the Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kerala State Committee.He was "Minister of Home affairs of Kerala" during the time of V S Achudanandan Ministry.