“The party has entrusted me with a new responsibility, which I will carry out to the best of my abilities within my limitations,” said P. Rajeev, who will be part of the new Cabinet under the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala.
He said that the portfolios will be allotted later and that he did not want to make a comment on what responsibility he would be entrusted with by the party.
Mr. Rajeev said that it would be a collective responsibility to implement the promises made by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) ahead of the Assembly elections and pointed out that the new responsibilities were being taken up in keeping with the spirit of the party manifesto. He added that the success of the first Pinarayi Vijayan government was that it implemented the promises it had made in the party manifesto.
Hot contest
Mr. Rajeev, CPI(M) State secretariat member and former member of Rajya Sabha, defeated IUML candidate V. A. Abdul Gafoor by a margin of over 11,000 votes in the Assembly elections in a contest that was keenly watched and described as a crucial one for the party unit in the district.
Mr. Gafoor is the son of V. K. Ebrahim Kunju of the IUML, who had won the seat for the UDF on both the previous occasions (2011 and 2016). Mr. Kunju had withdrawn from the election scene after he was named as one of the accused in the Palarivattom road flyover scandal.
Mr. Rajeev, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2009, had won the Sansad Ratna award for his contributions to the Parliament in 2016. He was also the CPI(M) secretary for the district of Ernakulam. He contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but lost to Hibi Eden of the Congress party.
Born in Meladoor in Thrissur district, he completed his school studies at the Government Samithy School, Meladoor, and joined Christ College in Irinjalakuda to complete his pre-university studies. He also did his graduation in Economics from St. Paul's College, Kalamassery. He completed LLB from the Government Law College in Ernakulam and holds a diploma in chemical engineering from the Government Polytechnic College, Kalamassery.
