Kannoth Karunakaran, was an Indian politician who served as the fifth chief minister of Kerala in 1977, from 1981 to March 1982, from May 1982 to 1987 and from 1991 to 1995. He is the founder of the Indian National Congress (INC)-led United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition, which has been the main opposition in Kerala since 2016.

The United Democratic Front (UDF) is the Indian National Congress-led alliance of centre to centre-right political parties in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the other being Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front, each of which has been in power alternately since 1980 E. K. Nayanar ministry. Most of the United Democratic Front constituents are members of the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance at pan-India level.