All You Need To Know About Journalist-Turned-Politician Veena George

Journalist turned politician Veena George is set to become a minister in the Kerala cabinet led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). She will be the first woman journalist-turned-politician to do be given a ministry.

Apart from her two other women have been appointed in the state's new cabinet, Dr Bindu and Chinchu Rani.

Here's what we know of Veena George's political career:

• Veena George who has had a long and eventful career as a journalist working in leading Malayalam news channels started her political career as a student activist.
• She worked with the Student Federation of India (SFI ) and the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). George has done her MSc in Physics and also has a BEd degree.
• In 2016, she was nominated as a candidate of the left front for the Arunmula constituency. She ran against Indian National Congress candidate Sivadasan Nair and defeated him by 7,646 votes.
• George won again in the 2021 assembly elections from the assembly seat by defeating the same nearest rival, Sivadasan Nair. This time she won by a greater margin of 19,003 votes.
• It has not been confirmed by the ruling party in Kerala but according to conjectures going around, George might be given the health ministry which was previously attained by KK Shailaja.

The 21-member in CM Pinarayi's cabinet is going to have 17 new members. This has been seen as a progressive move as the party policy of LDF claims to give chance to first-timers. This also the first time the CPI has nominated three ministers for the same cabinet.

Many had also raised objection to the party's decision to drop KK Shailaja from the new cabinet when her work as health minister gained praises during the pandemic and the Nipah virus outbreak. However, KK Shailaja gave her statement on the matter and said that she supports the move to give chances to first-timers as it is a "party policy".