He led the Congress party as Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President during the "Vimochana Samaram" (Liberation Struggle) in 1958. The Congress won the elections in 1960 under R. Sankar’s leadership. Though Congress gained majority of seats in the Elections of 1960 to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, Pattom Thanupillai of the Praja Socialist Party was given the Chief Ministership (CM) and Sankar became the Deputy Chief Minister in the Pattom Thanupillai ministry. He handled the portfolio of Finance from 1960 to 1962 when he was the Deputy CM.