In 2011, the Communist Party of India (CPI) took a surprise decision to field Chittayam Gopakumar from the Adoor Assembly constituency. It was an attempt to wrest the Assembly constituency often regarded as a UDF bastion. Prior to it, Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakarishnan won the seat four consecutive times.
Gopakumar, however, did not disappoint his party and the Left Democratic Front (LDF), as he defeated Congress leader Pandalam Sudhakaran by a narrow margin of 607 votes.
In 2016, he proved that his victory was not an aberration by retaining the seat with a bigger margin (He defeated Congress leader K K Shaju by 25,460 votes). Five years later, in 2021, voters in Adoor reposed faith in Gopakumar once again (He beat Congress candidate MG Kannan by 2,919 votes).
Gopakumar was born at Chittayam on May 31, 1965.
He made his political entry through All Indian Students' Federation (AISF), the students' wing of CPI. He later went on to become the outfit's state committee member. He served as the Kollam district secretary of the All Indian Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the labour wing of the CPI and Karshaka Thozhilali Union. He had worked as the chairman of Karshaka Thozhilali Kshemanidhi Board (Kerala Agriculture Workers' Welfare Fund Board), and president of the Kottarakkara gram panchayat.
He is currently a member of CPI's state council.
Gopakumar is married to C Sherley Bai. S G Amritha and S G Anuja are their daughters.
