Pinarayi Vijayan

Pinarayi Vijayan Biography

Pinarayi Vijayan is a politician of Communist party from Kerala and the current Chief Minister since May 2016. He has served as minister in Kerala government between 1996 and 1998. He is a Member of the CPI (M) politburo since 2002. Currently he is the state secretary of Kerala State Committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M). He has been elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970, 1977, 1991 and 1996. He has been always in limelight with his cold war with V. S. Achuthanandan since 2006. Media has celebrated their conflicts a lot! On May 26, 2007 the CPI (M) suspended Pinarayi Vijayan and V. S. Achuthanandan from the politburo for their public remarks on each other. But later the suspension was revoked. Following SNC Lavalin corruption case, he can’t participate in elections.

He was born on 21 March 1944 in Pinarayi in Kannur district. After schooling at Pinarayi, he worked as a handloom weaver for a year before joining for Pre – University course. His Pre – University course and graduation were completed at Government Brennen College, Thalassery. Vijayan entered politics through student union activities and he joined Communist party in 1964. President and secretary of the Kerala Student's Federation and the president of Kerala State Youth Federation (KSYF) are the positions held by Pinarayi as a youth leader in those days. It was during the time when Communist activities were banned from the country and his political activities resulted in his arrest and imprisonment. He was imprisoned for one and a half years. During emergency too, he was arrested and tortured by police.

 He got elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970, followed by 1977, 1991 and 1996 thus becoming one of the influential communist leaders of the state. He has served as Minister for Electric power and Co-operatives in the E.K. Nayanar ministry from 1996 to 1998. Same year he became CPI (M) state secretary.

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Updated: September 24, 2017