KOCHI: When V D Satheesan rises in the assembly on Friday to present his maiden state budget, he will also be reviving a little-known chapter in the state’s political history.
The budget presentation marks a significant moment for Paravur, which returns to the centre of the state’s fiscal narrative after more than five decades.
The last legislator from the constituency, then known as Parur, to present a state budget was K T George, who served as finance and law minister in the second ministry headed by C Achutha Menon. George presented his maiden Budget on February 25, 1972. Now, 54 years later, another MLA from Paravur is preparing to perform the same task.
George was one of the most prominent Congress leaders of his era. Elected from Parur in 1965, 1967, and 1971, he also served as deputy leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the fourth Kerala Assembly.
Satheesan’s budget presentation will also make him only the third Congress CM to personally present a state budget while holding charge of the finance portfolio.
The first was R Shankar, who became the state’s first Congress CM after succeeding Pattom A Thanu Pillai in 1962. Shankar presented the 1963-64 and 1964-65 budgets while serving as CM.
The second was Oommen Chandy, who presented the 2016-17 state budget after taking over the finance portfolio following the resignation of the then finance minister K M Mani. He had earlier presented four budgets as finance minister in the K Karunakaran ministry during the early 1990s.
