Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): CPI-M's State Commitee member MB Rajesh will be the Speaker of the 15th Legislative Assembly of Kerala and Chittayam Gopakumar from the CPI will be the Deputy Speaker, reports said.
Ministers in the new Kerala government were finalized in a meeting of the CPM leaders at the state Secretariat on Tuesday.
Rajesh was elected from Thrithala constituency where he won the seat from VT Balram. Rajesh had been elected twice as MP from Palakkad constituency.
Rajesh entered the public sphere as a student activist working as the SFI Unit secretary at Ottappalam NSS College. A native of Ottappalam Chalavara in Palakkad district, he is a post-graduate in economics and a law graduate from Thiruvananthapuram Law Academy.
Read: CPI's new faces in Kerala's next govt
He has served as the SFI state secretary, DYFI state president, and national president.
The CPI’s Chittayam Gopakumar, who has been representing Adoor in the Assembly for the past ten years, is recognized for the developmental activities implemented in his constituency over the last two terms and his performance as an MLA.
Gopakumar started his political activities from his school days through the All India Students Federation. At 18 years of age, he joined the Communist Party of India (CPI) as a branch committee member.
Read: Meet the 11 CPI(M) Ministers in Pinarayi 2.0 cabinet
Gopakumar, who debuted in 2011 election from Adoor, a reservation seat, defeated Congress’s Pandalam Sudhakaran and reached the Assembly then. In the next election in 2016, he won against K.K. Shaju with a whopping majority.
In the 2021 polls, Chittayam won by defeating M G Kannan of Congress and reached the Assembly for the third consecutive term. Gopakumar is a member of the CPI State council and a senate member of the Kerala University.
Read: When Pinarayi 2.0 prepares to take oath; the political lessons CPM put forth
