Veena George is a rank holder of MSc (Physics) and BEd.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's decision to drop KK Shailaja from his new cabinet had come under severe criticism from all quarters. Shailaja's handling of Covid pandemic as the state health minister was widely applauded and it was believed Vijayan would give her a second term. However, he decided against going by the 'no-repeat' cabinet policy.
According to sources, CPI(M) member Veena George is likely to get the health ministry in Vijayan's new team. If George takes oath as a minister, she would be the first woman journalist-turned politician to do so in Kerala's history. Vijayan and his new cabinet will be sworn-in on Thursday, May 20.
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Who is Veena George
Veena George had excelled as journalist and news anchor in various Malayalam news channels. George, a mother of two, is a member of the CPI(M) Pathanamthitta area committee.
Entering electoral politics with a victory from Aranmula assembly seat in the 2016 polls, Veena George was re-elected from the same constituency in Pathanamthitta district with a margin of 19,003 votes five years later.
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In the 2016 polls, she had wrested the constituency from the Congress, defeating the nearest rival Sivadasan Nair by a margin of 7,646 votes.
A rank holder of MSc (Physics) and BEd, 45-year-old George began her political career as an activist of Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPI(M). Her husband Dr George Joseph, a higher secondary school teacher, has served as secretary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
Two more women new Kerala cabinet
Besides George, two other women will also become ministers in the new government.
While CPI(M) has nominated Prof R Bindu, wife of CPI (M) acting secretary A Vijayaraghavan, CPI has selected its senior leader and Chadayamangalam MLA J Chinchu Rani to represent the party in the cabinet.
The ruling LDF had swept the April 6 polls, winning 99 of the 140 seats giving Pinarayi Vijayan an unprecedented second term.
(With PTI inputs)
