After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ligachyov became a communist politician in the Russian Federation. Ligachyov was elected three times to the Russian State Duma as a member for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Ligachyov was a member of its Central Committee from 1993 on. However, he lost his seat in the Duma in 2003, when he polled 23.5 percent of the vote against United Russia candidate Vladimir Zhidkikh's 53 percent.