THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: G Stephen, who navigated the challenges of independent living at a very young age after losing the love and care of his parents, stepped into parliament politics as a novice and when the results of the assembly elections were out on Sunday, he emerged as a giant killer toppling sitting MLA K S Sabarinadhan, son of former speaker G Karthikeyan, from the seat which was considered the citadel of the Congress in the capital.
Stephen won the election by a margin of 5,046 votes in the seat which Sabarinadhan won the election last time by a whopping margin of 21,314 votes. Stephen lost his mother at the age of six and father at nine. Since then, he grew up in the houses of relatives and CPM office in Kattakada.
The photos fixed on the walls like AKG, Lenin etc were his childhood friends. At the age of 14, he started his social life by joining the Balasangham and later became the CPM Kattakada area committee secretary and Thiruvananthapuram district committee member. Another candidate, Shoba Subin, had also become orphaned at a tender age.