KOCHI: They were classmates, studying lessons of law together. Amid their hectic schedule of student politics, heated debates were the norm. For they belonged to rival political fronts. But the turns their journeys took have brought them together again. Now, they are colleagues in the second Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet that was sworn in on Thursday.
Roshy Augustine, the water resources minister, and K Rajan, the revenue minister, were LLB classmates at the Law Academy in Thiruvananthapuram during 1997-2000. Perhaps, this is the first time in the state’s political history that classmates have become colleagues in a ministry.
“Many college-mates have earlier come together in a ministry and classmates have been elected MLAs. But this may be a rare occasion in the state’s political history where two classmates have become ministers in a cabinet,” said M Praveen Kumar, a lawyer based in Kollam, and a classmate of the duo at the Law Academy.
Interestingly, Rajan was the state secretary of AISF while Roshy was the state president of KSC (M) when the late K M Mani was a powerful leader in the Congress-led UDF, Praveen pointed out. The CPM’s I B Satheesh, the Kattakkada MLA, is another classmate of the duo. Recalling their college days, he said: “It may be the first time in state history that classmates have found a place in a cabinet, handling key portfolios like revenue and water resources.”
Satheesh shared another curious anecdote of student activism from among the new set of legislators.
Former Kerala University union chairman and general secretary of the same year have been elected to this assembly. While Satheesh was the chairman, Pramod Narayanan - the Ranni MLA, who won on a KC (M) ticket -- was the general secretary.
Praveen pointed out that, if their batchmate T V Rajesh -- a former CPM legislator from Kalyassery - was given a ticket, he too could have been a minister. Dineshan Puthalath, the political secretary to the Chief Minister, is another prominent figure among their classmates. Rajesh and Dineshan were SFI state leaders during their academic days, Praveen added.