Meet Veena George: The woman Set To Replace KK Shailaja As Kerala Health Minister

Journalist-turned-politician Veena George will helm Kerala's Health Ministry in the successive LDF cabinet, replacing KK Shailaja at a time when the state is witnessing an unprecedented Covid-19 surge.

Thiruvananthapuram: Journalist-turned-politician Veena George will replace KK Shailaja as Kerala’s health minister. The exclusion of KK Shailaja, who had won global acclaim for her deft leadership in checking the Covid-19 surge, from the cabinet at a time when the state is witnessing an unprecedented Covid-19 surge has raised eyebrows in various sections of society. A section of international media had earlier described Shailaja as a ”rockstar” health minister.

Who is Veena George?

George, a two-time legislator, represents the Aranmula constituency in the state assembly.
She is 45-years-old and a mother to two. George is expected has to match up to Shaialaja’s work in covid management.
She is known for her leadership qualities, well-articulated speech, and mature interactions. Her name was being widely speculated for the challenging post since the Marxist party began discussion for portfolio allocation.
Following her induction in the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF coalition cabinet, George became the first woman journalist to reach the position in the southern state.
Wresting of Aranmula, a traditional Congress fort in Pathanamthitta, in 2016 assembly polls and retaining the seat with a remarkable margin of 19,000 votes in the April 6 polls were considered to be among several other factors that helped her to cement a cabinet berth.
A surprise entrant in the poll fray, George had defeated her nearest rival Sivadasan Nair of Congress by a margin of 7,646 votes in the 2016 election.
She unsuccessfully contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Her able leadership was widely praised during the time of flood relief in Pathanamthitta in 2018 and 2019.
As a TV personality, she was the co-presenter of “Naam Munnott”, the television programme in which Vijayan used to interact with select audience.
Before plunging into politics, she had a striking career in visual media for over 15 years as she had been an established news anchor in prominent Malayalam channels including Manorama News and Reporter TV.
A mother of two, George was noted for her in-depth questions and political analyses during her TV media stint and won several awards also for journalistic excellence.
A rank holder of MSc (Physics) and B.Ed, George began her political career as an activist of Students Federation of India (SFI), a wing of the CPI(M).
She also tried her hand at teaching for a short period before beginning the media career.