Erambala Krishnan Nayanar (9 December 1919 – 19 May 2004) was an Indian politician who served as the 9th chief minister of Kerala from 1980 to 1981, 1987 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2001.

He served in that position for a total of 10 years, 11 months and 22 days, thus making him the longest-served Chief Minister of Kerala.

Nayanar was born in an aristocratic Nair family in Kalliasseri, Kannur district on 9 December 1919, as the second son of Govindan Nambiar and Narayani Amma.

Despite his father, Govindan Nambiar, being a believer in the feudalism, Nayanar took to the national movement of the time at a very young age under the influence of his cousin, K.P.R.

Nayanar was a participant in student movements in the Malabar region as a part of Balasangham[1] and consequently dropped out of school.

[2] Nayanar was an Indian National Congress member then he joined the Communist Party of India in 1939 at the age of 20.

Communist leaders were actively pursued by police following the incident, forcing Nayanar to go into hiding in forest areas in Eleri.

But both the parties left for United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition and the Government was dissolved on 20 October 1981.

But he did not complete his term of five years as CPI(M) decided to contest elections early in 1991 assuming political climate to be favourable.

He resigned from that post the very next year when he was chosen as the Kerala state secretary of the CPI(M) and was succeeded by V. S. Achuthanandan as the opposition leader.

Nayanar initially had not contested the 1996 assembly elections but as V. S. Achuthanandan who was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate lost in Mararikkulam.

[7] A faction in the party wanted Susheela Gopalan to be the Chief Minister,[8] but when the matter was put to vote in the state secretariat, Nayanar was selected to be the CM.

The campaign, supported by the government and civil society, played a pivotal role in Kerala becoming India's first fully literate state in April 18, 1991 within 2 years.

Technopark came into being on 28 July 1990, after it was registered under the Travancore Cochin Scientific and Charitable Societies Act.

The construction picked up momentum during this period and Nayanar ensured that the airport project received special attention from the State Government and gave his unstinted support to CIAL.

[11] The Kannur International Airport project was conceived in 1996 when Nayanar was the Chief Minister of Kerala.

The objective of the Kannur University Act, 1996 was to establish in the state of Kerala a teaching, residential and affiliating university to provide for the development of higher education in Kasargod and Kannur revenue Districts and the Mananthavady Taluk of Wayanad District.

[13][14] The cabinet meeting held on 21 July 1999, of the then LDF government, assigned Rail India Technological and Economic Services (RITES) for the feasibility study for a metro rapid transport system in Kochi.

[15] The techno-economic feasibility study for a Metro Rapid Transit System in Kochi was completed in 1999, which was begun in the same year, by Rail India Technological and Economic Services (RITES).

[3][4] Nayanar was admitted to the AIIMS on 26 April for advanced treatment of diabetes, from which he suffered for a long time, after a brief stay at the Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram earlier.