Veena George

Veena George
Veena
Minister for Health and Woman and Child Development, Government of Kerala
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 May 2021 (2021-05-20)
Chief Minister	Pinarayi Vijayan
Preceded by	K. K. Shailaja
Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 June 2016 (2016-06-02)
Preceded by	K. Sivadasan Nair
Constituency	Aranmula
Personal details
Born	(1976-08-03) 3 August 1976 (age 48) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Spouse	George Joseph
Children	2
Alma mater	Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, University of Kerala (B.Sc., M.Sc., B.Ed.)

Veena George (born 3 August 1976) is an Indian politician and former journalist who currently serves as the Minister for Health and Woman and Child Development in the Government of Kerala.[1] She represents Aranmula Assembly constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly since 2016. A member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Veena worked with major Malayalam news channels for over 16 years prior to joining politics. She was also the first female executive editor among Regional Malayalam news channels.[2]

Early life and career

Veena George was born in Thiruvananthapuram on 3 August 1976 to Adv. P. E. Kuriakose and Rosamma Kuriakose in a Malankara Orthodox Christian family. She completed her schooling at Mount Bethany High School in Pathanamthitta. She pursued a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Physics from the Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, and completed her B.Ed. as a University of Kerala rank holder.

Veena taught Physics as a lecturer at Catholicate College Pathanamthitta for one year before taking up journalism as her career choice. She joined Kairali TV as a journalist trainee and had a 16-year-long successful career with prominent Malayalam news channels. In 2015, she took charge as the executive editor of the Malayalam news channel TV New and became the first woman to do so.[3] She is married to Dr. George Joseph, a higher secondary school teacher.[4]

Career

Television career

Veena George began her career at Kairali TV as a journalist trainee, later she joined Manorama News as a news anchor and also presented morning shows and special international news programmes. Later she was associated with Malayalam news channels Indiavision, Reporter TV in prominent roles and joined TV New in the role of executive editor in 2015.[5]

Political career

She was a Students' Federation of India (SFI) activist in her college days. She contested elections for the first time when the CPI (M) fielded her from an INC held Aranmula seat in 2016 assembly polls. She defeated senior INC leader, K. Sivadasan Nair with a margin of 7646 votes. In 2019 Indian general election, Veena contested from Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency and came second in a fierce tri-cornered battle with the BJP and INC.[6] She retained her seat in 2021 assembly elections with an increased margin of 19,003 votes. On 20 May 2021, she was sworn in as a cabinet minister in the first Left Democratic Front government to retain power and the first government to be re-elected since 1977.[7] On 21 May, she took charge as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare as the successor of renowned CPI (M) leader, K. K. Shailaja.[8]

Election candidature history

Assembly election candidature history

Year	Constituency	Opponent	Result	Margin
2016	Aranmula	Adv. K. Sivadasan Nair (INC)	lost	7646[9]
2021	Aranmula	Adv. K. Sivadasan Nair (INC)	lost	19000[10]

Parliament election candidature history

Year	Constituency	Opponent	Result	Margin
2019	Pathanamthitta	Anto Antony (INC)	win	44243[11]

References

1. "Kerala Gazette". Government of Kerala. 20 May 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
2. "Meet the 11 women MLAs who will join the Kerala Assembly". Haritha John. The NewsMinute. 4 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
3. "Veena George, the first woman Executive Editor in the history of Malayalam TV news". The News Minute. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
4. "Veena George likely to replace KK Shailaja as health minister in new Kerala cabinet: Who is she". India TV. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
5. Veena George, the first woman Executive Editor in the history of Malayalam TV news
6. Kuttoor, Radhakrishnan (April 2019). "Sabarimala could hold the key". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
7. Sethuraman, Sundar (2 May 2021). "Kerala Assembly elections: Welfare thrust helps left rewrite history". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
8. "Former journalist Veena George replaces KK Shailaja as Kerala Health Minister in Covid era". Business Standard. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
9. "Aranmula Assembly Election 2016 Latest News & Results". India.com. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
10. "Election Commission of India". results.eci.gov.in. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
11. "Election Commission of India".