Vakkom Purushothaman was elected to the
Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970, 1977, 1980 and 1982 from
Attingal constituency. From 1971 to 1977, he held the portfolio of Agriculture and Labour in the Ministry headed by
C. Achutha Menon. From 1980 to 1981, he was the Minister for Health and Tourism in the
Nayanar Ministry. He served as Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and then served for two terms as a
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, 1984–1991 representing
Alappuzha constituency, during which time he was also Chairman of the Committee on Public Undertakings and the Committee on Subordinate Legislation of Parliament. He was the Chairman of the Consultative Committee of Experts to the
Inter Parliamentary Union for five years. From 1993 to 1996, he served as the
Lieutenant Governor of the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In 1996, he lost in the Kerala Legislative Assembly election from Attingal constituency. He was elected from Attingal in 2001 and became the Speaker for a second time, holding office from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, he was made the Minister for Finance and Excise in the
Oommen Chandy led UDF government and he briefly officiated as Chief Minister in 2006.
Governor of Mizoram On 26 August 2011,
President Pratibha Patil appointed Vakkom B. Purushothaman as the new
Governor of Mizoram in place of
Madan Mohan Lakhera. Vakkom B. Purushothaman was sworn in as the 18th Governor of Mizoram on 2 September 2011. He resigned on 11 July 2014 from his post due to his transfer to
Nagaland. ==Personal life and death==