He represents the Tiruppur Lok Sabha constituency of Tamil Nadu and is a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI).
The CPI in Tamil Nadu allied with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam as part of the Democratic Progressive Alliance for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
[1] The seat, whose economy was largely based on a textile industry that was contracting due to recession, had been won in 1998 and 1999 by C. P. Radhakrishnan of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Radhakrishnan's past success had come from exploiting communal tensions caused by a bombing campaign in the area by the now-banned Islamic fundamentalist Al Ummah group but this was no longer a significant issue.
[2] Subbarayan had previously been elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from the Tiruppur constituency for the periods 1984-89 and 1996-2001.