CPI(M) veteran Pinarayi Vijayan was on Tuesday elected its Parliamentary party leader, paving the way for his successive stint as Chief Minister of Kerala. Health minister in the outgoing Assembly, K K Shailaja, does not find a place in the new cabinet which has 11 new faces from CPI (M).
MV Govindan , K Radhakrishnan, KN Balagopal, P Rajeev, VN Vasavan, Saji Cherian, V Sivankutty, Mohammed Riyaz , R Bindu, Veena George and V Abdul Rahman. MB Rajesh was nominated for the post of Assembly Speaker.
The exclusion of KK Shailaja, popularly known as Shailaja Teacher, who earned a lof of praise for her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2018 Nipah outbreak, raised a lot of eyebrows. She has been made the party whip.
The state committee of the Marxist party, chaired by senior leader Elamaram Kareem, met at its headquarters AKG Centre and elected Vijayan to lead the party, a CPI(M) statement said.
Vijayan had scripted history in the April 6 Assembly polls by leading the Left front to a consecutive term, bucking the over four-decade-old trend in the state of the people choosing between Communists and Congress-led governments alternately.
“There is no need to be emotional.. I became the minister earlier because of the party’s decision. I have absolute satisfaction in what I have done. I am confident that the new team can perform better than me,” she said.
“Not the individual but the system is showcasing the fight against the pandemic. I am happy that I could lead the team,” the leader added.
