K E R A L A M O N I T O R . C O M May 2006 Kerala, Pondicherry usher in new govts - Qatar to introduce smart-card IDs -UK education fair inaugurated in Qatar -Kuwait Airways to go public - VS ministry takes over in Kerala - The Red Flag, From Berlin to West Bengal - Newsmaker: V S Achuthananthan Seventh Standard Chief Minister for Literate Kerala..... A seventh Standard school drop out is sworn in as the 20th Chief Minister of Kerala, the most literate state in India. Veteran Marxist leader V S Achuthanandan has sworn in as the twentieth Chief Minister of Kerala. His strength and weakness seems to be a 19-member Left Democratic Front Ministry which is filled with many veteran leaders from various political parties. Replacing the five year old United Democratic Front (UDF) government , which changed two chief ministers within a span of five years, the VS Achuthananthan ministry is a continuation of the political history of the stateto change unpopular governments in every alternative elections. State Governor R L Bhatia administered the oath of office and secrecy to Achuthanandan and his colleagues at a ceremony at the Central stadium where a huge crowd cheered and applauded as the new Chief Minister and his took oath.The Ministry has 12 nominees, including the Chief Minister, from the CPI-M, four from CPI, one each from RSP, Janata Dal (Secular) and Kerala Congress. Deviating from normal practice of accommodating all the coalition constituents in the cabinet, single-legislator parties like NCP, Congress-S and Kerala Congress (Secular) were kept away from the ministerial berths. Sixteen members of the cabinet, including the Chief Minister, are occupying a ministerial chair for the first time. (Click to visit Comrade VS Website floated by VS Supporters) The CPI-M, rather the powerful Pinarayi wing in the rouge party amassed all key portfolios like Home, Finance, Industries, Education, Power, Health, Tourism and Local Self Government. The Home portfolio, traditionally held by Chief Ministers is assigned to Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, whose affiliation to Pinarayi Vijayan group is an open secret. Achuthanandan, who was sidelined by the powerful lobby inside and outside the party without giving even a seat in the election, emerged victorious after the intervention of the party Politbureau, which decided to intervene in the state party power struggle due to the growing popularity of the 83 years old man, who is known for his uncompromising struggle against corruption and immorality in public life. Even before becoming the Chief Minister, VSA created many powerful enemies which included some comrades in disguise with vested interests. While the state CPM General Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan was dominating the party's decision making apparatus and trightening his grip even on the party's intellectual machinery like the party mouthpiece Deshabhimani and Kairali, a channel started with party workers generous support, he had to keep away from the electoral politics due to his alleged involvement in a multicrore corruption case involving a power project and a Canadian multinational company.The party mouth piece and the channel continues to engage in a silent boycott of the veteran leader. While Deshabhimani often scoff at rival newspapers as bourgeoise mouthpieces, it was through these newspapers that people came to know about the deliberate block out of the CPM Chief Ministerorial candidate from the front page. Kairali TV too remained cool about VSA till the last minute and people are keenly watching how the Kairali- Peoples channel would treat the new chief minister. VS who is occupying the Chief Ministers chair for the first time has enough experience as a vibrant opposition leader who raised N number of issues in public interest for the party.. He can expect the same from the opposition and a minority section of the CPM leadership. People hope thatany discontented CPM leaders would not play the role played Karunakaranto troubling TWO UDF Chief Ministers - A. K.Antony and Ommen Chandy! While the. CPI-M nominees Paloli Muhammadkutty, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, M A Baby, Dr T M Thomas Isaac, P K Gurudasan, Elamaram Kareem, P K Sreemathy, S Sarma, A K Balan, M Viayakumar and G Sudhakaran are sworn in to handle crucial portfolios, the upper hand seems to be with the Pinarayi group members. While CPM leaders claim in public that there is no factionalism and inner party group rivalry, the invisible division within the party infrastructure and caders was evident during the pre-election dramas staged to keep VSA away from participating in the election. The reasons for trying to keep away VSA were crystal clear - his crusade against the Kiliroor sex scandal and Kozhikodu ice cream parlouer cases, his uncompromising approach towards developmental issues like Express High way and the Smart City, antagonised not only the powerful lobby outside the party, but a coterie of leaders who were silently supporting them. The CPI, which was once part of the undivided Communist Party, nominated veterans like C Divakaran, K P Rajendran, Benoy Viswam and Mullakkara Ratnakaran. It seems that VSA might get some relief and support from the CPI leaders who were adamant like the leader of opposition against Pinarayi's covert and overt campaign to rope in the corrupt anti-communist K.Karunakaran and his newly formed DICK Party to the LDF fold. The verbal confrontation between Veliyam Bhargavan, the CPI leader and Pinaray through the vibrant media is still fresh in people's mind. P J Joseph of Kerala Congress, N K Premachandran from RSP and Mathew T Thomas of Janata Dal (Secular) are also part of the Ministry. Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, CPI (M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, leaders of various political parties, head of Malankara Catholic Church Archbishop May Cyril Baselios and people from different walks of life attended the swearing-in ceremony. People cheered lustily when the 82-year-old Achuthanandan clad in his typical white 'mundu' and cotton kurta took oath. In many places in the city, LDF supporters and workers burst crackers to celebrate the occasion. This is V S Achuthananthan, the 20th Chief Minister of Kerala... Chief Minister Sworn in as the Chief Minister of Kerala on 18th May 2006 Son of Shri Sankaran and Smt. Accamma; born on 20th October 1923, Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan,is a Communist politician, Polit Bureau member of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) since 1985. He is popularly known as "Comrade VS". VS had to give up his studies after finishing VII standard. He entered into the world of politics through Trade Union activities and joined State Congress in 1938. Like many young men of his age, he became disillusioned with the policies and politics of the Congress and became a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in 1940. He was imprisoned for five years and six months during Freedom Struggle period and has gone under-ground for four and half years in his struggled political career. He was active in the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising. He was one among the 32 comrades who left the CPI National Council in 1964 to form the CPI(M). Achuthanandan had served many postitions in long political career. He was the Kerala State Secretary of the CPI(M) between 1980 and 1992 and he became the member of the Polit Bureau since 1985. He was also active in parliamentary politics as he became the member of Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1967, 1970, 1991, 2001 and 2006. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1992 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006. Now Elected From Malampuzha Constituency Languages known Malayalam and English Wife Smt. K. Vasumathy Children 1 son and 1 daughter Travels abroad Russia, China, Mangolia and United Kingdom. Hobbies Reading Permanent address Velikkakathu House, Punnapra North P.O., Alappuzha -4 VS Surrounded by other.. ministers....   VSA Unanimously Elected as Chief Minister Capping intense debate within, CPI-M in Kerala today unanimously chose party veteran V S Achuthanandan as Chief Minister of Kerala but the faction led by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan gained a clear upper hand in the choice of party nominees for the LDF ministry which will assume office on May 18.A brief party comminique issued at the end of the day-long state committee meet said the election of 82-year-old Achuthanadan to lead the ministry was unanimous, the PTI Reported .Though the party was yet to make an official announcement regarding the ministers and their portfolios, indications were that Achuthandan was unlikely to get the key Home portfolio, which was likely to go to Pinarayi loyalist Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. More News Indiavision - AC Nielson Kerala exit poll results achieve 98.9% accuracy