The forever legislators: India’s longest-serving MLAs and MPs

Former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy has represented Puthupally in the Assembly for 18,728 days, or 51 years and three months. He features in a list of iconic politicians such as M Karunanidhi, Somnath Chatterjee, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

(Clockwise) M Karunanidhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Somnath Chatterjee, and Oommen Chandy.

Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday became the longest-serving member of the Kerala Assembly. The Congress leader has represented Puthupally, his constituency in Kottayam district, for 18,728 days, or over 51 years and three months as an MLA. His Assembly tenure began in 1970 and since then has won 11 straight elections.

He broke the record of the late KM Mani, who headed the Kerala Congress (M). Mani represented the Pala constituency for five decades — from 1965 to 2016. He won 13 elections and is the longest-serving minister in the state’s history, having held the finance portfolio for 13 years. Though Mani won from Pala in 1965, he entered the Assembly two years later as the state was under President’s rule at the time. So, the two years are not considered while counting his Assembly tenure.

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Here are some of India’s longest-serving legislators:

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In Maharashtra, Ganpatrao Deshmukh of the Peasants and Workers Party won his 11th Assembly election in 2019. Deshmukh has represented the Sangola for a record 54 years.
Former Tamil Nadu CM and DMK chief M Karunanidhi. He did not lose a single election in 60 years, winning 13 polls. He contested his first election from the Kulithalai constituency in 1954 and won every election until 2016 — he did not contest the 1984 elections — when he won from Tiruvarur.

CPI(M) veteran Hashim Abdul Halim was the longest-serving Speaker of West Bengal, holding the post from 1982 to 2011. Halim was elected to the Assembly for the first time in 1977 and remained there for till 2011.

Lok Sabha

Indrajit Gupta of the Communist Party of India (CPI) won the elections to the Lower House of Parliament 11 times from West Bengal between 1960 and 2001, barring 1977. He represented the constituencies of Calcutta South West, Alipur, Basirhat, and Medinipur.
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Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee won the general elections 10 times, first as a member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, then the Janata Party, and later the BJP. He won from Lucknow for five consecutive terms from 1991 to 2009. Before that, he represented Balrampur (1957-’62 and 1967-’71), Gwalior (1971-’77), and New Delhi (1977-’84).

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CPI(M) leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee won the Lok Sabha elections 10 times. He lost only the 1984 election — to Mamata Banerjee, who was then in the Congress — from Kolkata’s Jadavpur constituency. Chatterjee was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Burdwan in 1971 and subsequently won from different constituencies till 2004.

Congress leader PM Sayeed represented the Lakshadweep constituency for 10 consecutive terms from 1967 to 2004. He was also a Union minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

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Congress leader Kamal Nath (Chhindwara, 1980-2018, his wife Alka Nath held the seat from 1996-98), former Odisha Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang (Koraput, 1972 to 2009, except 1999-2004 when his wife held the seat); senior Odisha Congress leader Khagapati Pradhani (Nowrangpur, 1967-1998); senior Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia (Guna and other seats, 1971-2001); veteran Janata Party leader George Fernandes (1967 to 2004, except 1984-’89); and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan (1977 to 2019, except 1984-’89) were nine-time MPs.
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Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is an eight-time MP. She won her first general election in 1989 from Indore, a seat she held till 2019.

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