New Delhi: Ever since Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan led the Left Democratic Entrance in Kerala to its second successive Meeting election victory in 2021, the query of who could be his successor has loomed giant.
Whereas the successor debate has been round for a while, a survey in Malayalam each day Mathrubhumi has added extra gasoline — the survey, outcomes of which have been revealed earlier this week, confirmed that almost all Malayalis believed PWD and Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas could be a chief minister of the state sooner or later sooner or later.
Riyas, like most of the present Pinarayi Cupboard, is younger at 47 years, and has risen by means of the Left ranks, having been president of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) earlier than taking cost because the minister for PWD and tourism after the LDF got here to energy within the state for a second time.
However what’s maybe extra vital for the Left ecosystem — usually seen because the final remaining bastion standing towards dynastic politics — is that Riyas is married to Vijayan’s daughter Veena, an IT skilled. The 2 tied the knot in June 2020.
When Saji Cheriyan was pressured to resign over his remarks towards the Indian Structure in June final yr, considered one of his portfolios, youth affairs, was given to Riyas.
On 2 January, Mathrubhumi revealed the outcomes of a survey carried out by the think-tank MaxEd. Known as ‘Malayali Manas’, or the Malayali thoughts, the survey confirmed that 26.21 per cent of respondents noticed Riyas as a future chief minister, forward of Congress Member of Legislative Meeting Shafi Parambil (17.7 per cent), chief of opposition V.D. Satheesan (6.73 per cent) and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor (3.04 per cent), who’s been energetic within the state.
Though Riyas was the one one from the Pinarayi cupboard to be on the checklist, a separate survey for attainable ladies chief ministers threw up the names of former well being minister Okay.Okay. Shailaja (67 per cent) and her successor Veena George (13.3 per cent).
Even Riyas’s detractors concede to his recognition. He has additionally established himself as a mature administrator.
Living proof — his dealing with of the Left cadres’ protests over the poster of ‘Nna Thaan Case Kodu’, a film a couple of reformed thief’s struggle for justice.
As protests towards the movie’s tagline ‘Vazhiyil Kuzhiyunde, Ennalum Vannekane’ (there are potholes on the highway resulting in theatres, however you must nonetheless come) grew, a peaceful Riyas, whose division that tagline was seemingly mocking, met the movie’s protagonist and even went for a screening himself.
ThePrint reached out to the workplace of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the cellphone and WhatsApp. This text will likely be up to date when a response is acquired.
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Private life rife with controversies
The son of former Kozhikode police commissioner P. M. Abdulkhader, Riyas is seen to be a person with a clear political picture. He’s particularly standard among the many tech-savvy kadannal (wasps) — the sobriquet given to the Left’s youthful cadres who’re incessantly seen to be focusing on and vilifying any critics of the LDF.
Simply earlier than the Kerala meeting elections in 2021, Riyas was charged with the destruction of public property and sentenced to jail for an incident that occurred in Kozhikode throughout his tenure as DYFI president.
However what has actually struck the collective Malayali consciousness are the costs of home violence that his first spouse, Sameeha Saithalvi, introduced towards him.
In 2015, Saithalvi accused Riyas of psychological and bodily abuse.
Regardless of these controversies, nonetheless, his contacts in Delhi from the DYFI days discuss how he would incessantly fly all the way down to Bengaluru to satisfy his now-wife Veena.
Abhay Mukherjee who had labored intently with Riyas in DYFI — first when he turned a central committee member of the organisation and later when he took over as president in 2017 — talks about him as being a person with a “huge coronary heart”.
“He was revolutionary, hard-working, and had a manner of connecting to staff. He’s additionally an excellent speaker. Each time I attended conferences with him in Kerala, I may see from the group’s reactions how effectively he communicated in Malayalam,” Mukherjee informed ThePrint. “He additionally spoke some Hindi, which is uncommon for any person from Kerala. Each time I travelled to Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) he would invite me house for a meal. I additionally turned very near his two sons.”
Riyas’s marriage to Veena additionally got here beneath fireplace from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) — each due to its inter-religious nature and the truth that it was the second marriage for each.
Regardless of this, the Kerala Communist Occasion of India (Marxist) continues to attempt to woo the IUML — a celebration that’s been an ally of the rival United Democratic Entrance, a Congress-led coalition of political events in Kerala, for over 5 many years, though it has tied up with the Left prior to now.
Certainly, there are stories that the Left may take into account elevating Riyas within the celebration in an try to achieve out to a Muslim celebration within the state.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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