Pinarayi Vijayan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pinarayi Vijayan
Secretary, CPI(M) Kerala State Committee
Member of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau
Born March 21, 1944 (1944-03-21) (age 64)
Pinarayi, Kannur district
Political party CPI(M)
Spouse Kamala
Children One son and one daughter
Residence Pinarayi, Kerala
Religion Hindu/Thiyya
Website http://www.pinarayivijayan.org/

Vijayan (Well known as Pinarayi Vijayan) is a communist politician and a former minister of Kerala, South India. Currently he is the Secretary of the Kerala State Committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM).

Contents

[edit] Early life

He was born on 21 March 1944 in Pinarayi in Kannur district. He is married to Kamala and has two children, Veena an engineering graduate and Vivek currently doing his MBA in England.

[edit] Political career

Pinarayi Vijayan entered politics through student union activities and eventually joined the Communist Party in 1964. He was the President and Secretary of the Kerala Student's Federation (KSF) and also served as the President of Kerala State Youth Federation (KSYF). During that period, when communists in Kerala were organising the political activities from different hide-outs, Pinarayi Vijayan was imprisoned for one and half years. Late he was elected the President of the Kerala State co-operative Bank. 1970 witnessed his entry in to the Kerala Legislative Assembly. He was re-elected in 1977, 1991 and 1996. He was the Minister for Electric power and Co-operatives in the E.K. Nayanar ministry from 1996 to 1998. In 1998 he became the Party State Secretary. He was elected to the Polit Bureau of CPI(M) in 2002.

[edit] Electricity Minister

He was elected to the state assembly in 1996 election and was selected as cabinet minister in E. K. Nayanar ministry.His work as an electricity minister got appreciated from all people in Kerala.Within two years he was able to save Kerala from power cut.Pinarayi Vijayan was known as a fast implementer due to his capability take decisions and execute much faster.

[edit] Suspension

On May 26, 2007 the CPI(M) suspended Pinarayi Vijayan and V. S. Achuthanandan from the Politburo for their public remarks on each other. The central committee has approved the Politburo's decision to suspend them. It concluded that open criticism against each other aired by the two leaders had "violated the norms of the party." Later the Central CPIM committee realized that the presence of Pinarayi Vijayan is an important factor, a spearhead to garner the votes from the working class. He was then reinstated as a member of the Politburo. [1]

[edit] Positions held

  • Was the State President and Secretary of Kerala Student's Federation and President of Kerala State Youth Federation (KSYF).
  • Served as President of Kerala State Co-operative Bank
  • Elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970, 1977, 1991 and 1996.
  • Served as Cabinet Minister in Kerala Government between 1996 and 1998
  • Secretary of the Kerala State Committee of the CPI(M) since 1998
  • Member of the Polit Bureau from 2002 to still Continuing

[edit] Controversies

  • The SNC Lavalin controversy in Kerala is a major allegation that rocked Kerala politics . The Comptroller and Auditor General of India report said that the deal Vijayan had struck as electricity minister in 1998 with Lavalin, a Canadian firm, for the repair of three generators, was a huge fraud and had cost the state exchequer a staggering Rs 3.76 billion. On 16th January 2007, Kerala High Court ordered a CBI enquiry into the SNC Lavalin case. [2]
  • It is widely beleived that Vijayan is the master mind behind the 2008 Kannur Violence which killed 7 BJP workers. Thalassery and Pinarayi are adjacent places in Kannur district. Political violence often takes a ugly shape here. CPI(M) and BJP are arch rivals here. The Ruling Party in Government has a huge impact on the peacefull situation in Kannur. The parties carry out huge campaigns to support their violent activities
  • His political opponents are making allegation about the places where his children gets admitted. His daughter Veena is an Engineering graduate in Amrutha Institute of Technology, managed by Mata Amritanandamayi Math and son Vivek, MBA graduate from a B-School in England. The opponents claiming that this not suppose to happen from the leader of a party which holds strong policies of opposing self financing colleges, as well as holding public accusation about saints like Amritanandamayi and their alleged wealth. [3]
  • On February 16, 2007 the air port security in Chennai Airport recovered five bullets from Vijayan's baggage. The Chennai airport security had let him off after receiving a faxed copy of his license. [4]
  • The Editors Guild of India strongly condemned the threats issued to K. Gopalakrishnan, Editor, Mathrubhumi Malayalam. The threats of retaliation and punishment issued by CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to the Mathrubhumi newspaper are a direct affront to the freedom of the press. The Guild demanded an immediate end to the intimidatory tactics against Mathrubhumi and called upon the Government of Kerala to ensure that there is full protection to Gopalakrishnan and journalists of Mathrubhumi. [5] [6]
  • The stand-off between the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the catholic church in Kerala took another nasty turn with CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan demanding that the church withdraw a controversial pastoral letter issued recently.The letter had recommended a "liberation struggle" on the lines of the one in the 1950s to liberate the education sector in Kerala from state control. [7]
  • Pinarayi got involved in a controversy as the head organising committee of the Nayanar Memorial football tournament receiving money from Pharis Aboobacker, a controversial business man described by the Chief Minister as a "Hated Figure". [8]
  • On 16 October 2007, Pinarayi had called Paul Chitilapally, the bishop of Thamarassery in Kerala, as a “wretched creature” for his “lie”. He was speaking in a memorial remembrance of Mathai Chacko, MLA from Thamarassery. Later, the Roman Catholic Church in Kerala is up in arms against the CPM leadership as his comments against the bishop. However, he repeated the wordings and stick with the comments he had mentioned. This made a heated discussion among the Catholic community across the state and has protested against his speech by closing all educational institutions and churches. [9] [10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Achuthanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan suspended. The Hindu.
  2. ^ Kearala to go by HC order in Lavalin case. The Hindu Business Line.
  3. ^ Vijayan mum on son’s admission. The Indian Express.
  4. ^ Act against Pinarayi: Chandy. The Hindu.
  5. ^ CPM faction battles the media in Kerala. The Hoot.
  6. ^ CPI(M) mouth piece snipes at Editors’ Guild. The Financial Express.
  7. ^ Pinarayi wants pastoral letter retracted. Gulf News.
  8. ^ 'Corruption has tarnished image of LDF govt’. Khaleej Times.
  9. ^ Unfazed Pinarayi continues to attack bishop. The Economic Times.
  10. ^ Do not vitiate social climate, says Pinarayi. The Hindu.