Political Career
In May 2001, Ganesh Kumar was elected to the Kerala Assembly from Pathanapuram on the Kerala Congress (B) ticket. He defeated his opponent, K Prakash Babu, by a margin of 9,931 votes. This was the first time in the history of Kerala that an individual from the film industry had been elected to the Assembly. (Earlier, industry titans like Prem Nazir had tasted defeat at the hustings.) Ganesh Kumar’s father and former Minister, R. Balakrishna Pillai had also been elected from the neighbouring constituency of Kottarakara, which he had represented for several decades. The father-son duo made history by becoming the first such pair to adorn the Kerala Assembly simultaneously.
Ganesh Kumar became Transport Minister in the A K Antony cabinet in May 2001 and went on to give a good account of himself. Though a political novice at that time, he turned around the ailing KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation) and earned a reputation for providing a clean and efficient administration. In March 2003, he stepped down from his ministerial post to facilitate his father’s induction into the Cabinet. The smooth transition took many by surprise.
In the 2006 Assembly elections, Ganesh Kumar was once again elected from Pathanapuram, this time realizing an increased victory margin of 11,814 votes and defeating K R Chandramohanan of the CPI. The Left Democratic Front had made a clean sweep, winning 11 out of 12 seats in Kollam District and a formidable majority in the State Assembly. The Pathanapuram voters however, stood by Ganesh Kumar, making him the only UDF winner from Kollam District. While many of his former ministerial colleagues, including M K Muneer, P K Kunhalikutty and Babu Divakaran, were routed by lesser known opponents, and his illustrious father was also humbled by a CPI(M) debutante, Ganesh Kumar managed to hold his own.
In the 2011 Assembly elections, Ganesh Kumar scored a hat-trick win from Pathanapuram with an even bigger margin of 20,402 votes, trouncing his veteran CPM rival, K Rajagopal. He went on to become a Minister for Forests, Sports and Cinema in the Oommen Chandy cabinet in May 2011.He resigned from cabinet due to the domestic violence case filed by his wife yamini thankachan on 07-04-2013
Read more about this topic: K. B. Ganesh Kumar
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