Three-time MLA Pradeep Kumar new private secretary to Kerala CM

Thiruvananthapuram | Senior CPI(M) leader and a former MLA Pradeep Kumar has been appointed as the new private secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

A CMO statement, on Saturday, said CM Vijayan has issued an order appointing the former legislator to the key post.

The new appointment was made in the wake of the recent appointment of former private secretary K K Ragesh as the Kannur district secretary of CPI(M).

Kumar, who is now serving as the state committee member of the CPI(M), represented Kozhikode North constituency in the state Assembly for three consecutive terms.

Responding to the development, Pradeep Kumar said the appointment as the private secretary to the Chief Minister is a "significant responsibility".

"I have been keeping away from parliamentary politics for some time, and now delivering my duties as a party man. The new responsibility came as part of that," he told reporters here.

He also said he would try his best to fulfil the entrusted responsibilities remarkably.

Kumar entered politics as an activist of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the students' wing of the CPI(M), during 1980s.