CPM state secretariat member K N Balagopal is a first-time MLA. He had earlier been a member of the Rajya Sabha, and deputy whip of CPM in Rajya Sabha.
He was also the national president of both SFI and DYFI, besides holding the post of secretary, CPM Kollam district committee. He defeated R Rashmi of the Congress by a margin of 10,814 votes to win Kottarakkara in Kollam District.
A resident of Kalanjoor, Balagopal studied in Sree Narayana College, Punalur, MG College, Thiruvananthapuram, Law Academy Law College and Kerala University. A graduate in Law, Balagopal entered politics through SFI, and rose through the ranks to become its state secretary and president.
Balagopal first electoral battle against Congress’s Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan in Adoor in the 1996 Assembly polls was unsuccessful. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2010, when he was the political secretary to the then Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.
He had won the Sansad Ratna Award for the best parliamentarian in 2016. He lost to N K Premachandran of the RSP in Kollam in the Lok Sabha polls held in 2019.
College teacher Asha Prabhakaran is his wife. Kalyani and Sreeha are the couple's children.
