Kerala Elections 2016: Veteran Achuthanandan sidelined, CPI(M) picks P Vijayan as next CM

In a contentious decision, the CPI(M) central leadership has decided that Pinarayi Vijayan will be the next Chief Minister of Kerala. He has been chosen over former CM and 93-year-old veteran CPI(M) leader VS Achuthanandan. Both these two leaders have had acrimonious relationship in the past and now the central leadership has chosen Vijayan to become the CM of the state. 

LDF won a resounding mandate on Thursday winning 91 of the 140 seats. Both Vijayan and Achuthanandan were in the forefront of the campaign for LDF. Today, the central committee meeting took place in Trivandrum where party general secretary Sitaram Yechury was also present.

CPIM State Committee Meeting underway in Trivandrum; VS Achutanandan, Sitaram Yechury & Prakash Karat present. pic.twitter.com/SmuFb0IVVF

— ANI (@ANI_news) May 20, 2016

According to ANI, the decision to chose Vijayan was conveyed to Achuthanandan, who left the meeting halfway. 

At 93,Velikkakath Sankaran Achuthanandan still had hopes of becoming the chief minister. One of Kerala’s most popular leaders, the veteran Marxist showed no fatigue as he campaigned, braving unprecedented heat in Kerala. He defeated 29-year-old VS Joy of Congress in Malampuzha by a huge margin of votes. 

71 year old Vijayan has served as minister in the Kerala cabinet earlier. He was the general secretary of the state unit of CPI(M) from 1998-2015. He was inducted in CPI(M) politburo  way back in 2002.