Pinarayi Vijayan Biography

About Pinarayi Vijayan

Pinarayi Vijayan is the current Chief Minister of Kerala. He is a politbureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He served as the secretary of Kerala State Committee of CPI(M) from 1998 to 2015. He served as Minister of Electricity and Co-operatives in the Kerala government from 1996 to 1998. In the 2016 Kerala Assembly elections, Vijayan won from Dharmadom constituency with a margin of 36,905 votes. He was sworn-in as the 12th Chief Minister of Kerala on 25 May, 2016.

Personal Life

Pinarayi Vijayan was born on 24 May, 1945. As per official records, his birthday is on March 21, 1944. He hails from a poor toddy tapper’s family in Pinarayi in Kannur district. He is the youngest son of his parents Kalyani and Mundayil Koran. After completing his school education, Vijayan worked as a handloom weaver for a year. He joined Government Brennen College, Thalassery for a pre-university course and completed his degree course from the same college. His wife is Kamala Vijayan and they have one daughter and one son.

Political Career of Pinarayi Vijayan

Pinarayi Vijayan made his foray into politics during his student days at Government Brennen College. He participated in student union activities and joined the Communist Party in 1964. He then became Kannur district secretary of Kerala Students' Federation (KSF), which eventually became the Students Federation of India (SFI). He eventually earned the position of state secretary and state president of the party. He moved to Kerala State Youth Federation (KSYF), which later became the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). He was chosen as the president of the state committee. During that time, Vijayan was imprisoned for one and a half years for his political activities. He has also been the president of the Kerala state co-operative bank.

Vijayan was arrested and tortured during the years of emergency. He became Kannur district secretary of CPI(M) after M.V. Raghavan left the party. Vijayan became member of the State secretariat within three years. He was the Minister for Electricity and Co-operatives from 1996 to 1998 during E.K. Nayanar's tenure as chief minister of Kerala. In 1998, he was elevated to the post of CPI(M) state secretary on the death of incumbent Chadayan Govindan. He got elected to the CPI(M) politburo in 2002. Pinarayi Vijayan became the 12th Chief Minister of Kerala on 26 May, 2016.

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Achievements and Controversies

• Pinarayi Vijayan got elected to the Kerala legislative Assembly in 1970, 1977, 1991 and 1996.
• During his tenure as Electricity Minister, the state achieved a marked improvement in power generation capacity through timely execution and augmentation of new projects.
• The CPI(M) suspended Pinarayi Vijayan and V. S. Achuthanandan from the politburo in 2007 for the remarks they made against each other in public. Vijayan was readmitted to the Politburo later.
• P. Vijayan got embroiled in the SNC Lavalin corruption case. A CAG report stated that the deal struck by Vijayan with Canadian firm Lavalin during his stint as electricity minister in 1998 had cost the state exchequer Rs 375 crores. A CBI enquiry was ordered by the Kerala High Court. The CBI special court discharged Pinarayi Vijayan from the list of accused on 5 November, 2013. It held that there was no proof of dishonesty and fraudulent intentions or abuse of official position and cheating against Vijayan.