2016 Kerala Assembly Election Result - It's official! Pinarayi Vijayan will be next Kerala CM Friday May 20,2016

A day after the Left Democratic Front (LDF) won 91 of the 140 seats in the Kerala Assembly, the  Communist Party of  India Marxist on Friday May 20,2016 named Pinarayi Vijayan, a member of its politburo, as the new chief minister of Kerala.

Addressing a press conference,party leader Sitaram Yechury said that considering V S Achuthanandan's age, Pinarayi  Vijayan has been chosen for the CM's post.

Former chief minister VS Achuthanandan is 92-year-old, while Vijayan is 72 years old.

 

V S Achuthanandan, who was the face of LDF campaign, and Vijayan were elected to the assembly from Malampuzha and Pinaryi respectively.

Soon after the decision to nominate Vijayan to the CM's post became known, party workers at AKG Bhavan started celebrations and began distributing sweets

Vijayan, who hails from Pinarayi village in Kannur district, got associated with the CPI-M during his student days. His mentor in the CPI-M was the legendary A.K. Gopalan.

At age 24, he was inducted into the Kannur district committee of the CPI-M. From there, he had a steady growth in the party.

Now a five-time legislator, Vijayan made his electoral debut in 1970. He became the Electricity Minister in 1996 in the cabinet of E.K. Nayanar.

It was during this period that he became the unquestioned organizational leader, reigning supreme as the state party secretary from 1998 to 2015.

By the time he gave up the post last year, he had virtually come to control the CPI-M in Kerala although Achuthanandan remained a mass leader and was chief minister from 2006 to 2011.

Within the party, Vijayan even cut to size Achuthanandan because of the support he enjoyed in various party units.

The only blip in his political career came in 1997 when he, as the Electricity Minister, was accused of causing a loss of Rs.266 crore to the state exchequer over a power deal.

But the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) exonerated Vijayan in 2013. The Kerala government approached the high court, where the matter is expected to come up next month.

Married to teacher (now retired) T. Kamala, the couple have a son and a daughter who are both professionals.

Kerala maintained its reputation as a state that swings between the UDF and the LDF coalitions every 5 yrs —BJP winning its first seat in the state is an unmissable development.