Thiruvananthapuram: Former Kozhikode MLA A Pradeep Kumar was appointed as the private secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday. His appointment comes after KK Ragesh, who previously held the post, was appointed as the CPM's Kannur district secretary last month.

Pradeep Kumar, who represented the Kozhikode North constituency three times from 2006, was a former SFI state president. He is currently a member of the CPM state committee. 

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Pradeep Kumar said he would take charge of his new role tomorrow. "The party and the Chief Minister informed me about the appointment. The CM's office has a strong working setup. I will try to do my best during my time there," he told reporters.

Rise through the ranks
Pradeep Kumar rose through the ranks of the CPM after beginning his political career with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI). He started as the unit secretary at Zamorin’s Guruvayoorappan College, Kozhikode, in 1984 and later became the chairman of the Calicut University Union. 

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In 1988, he was selected as the secretary of the SFI Kozhikode District Committee and held the post until 1990. In the same year, he went on to become the organisation’s state president. In 1992, he was appointed as the state secretary of SFI and also served as its All India vice president. In 1998, Pradeep Kumar became a CPM Kozhikode District Committee member.

In his first election to the Kerala Assembly in 2006, Pradeep Kumar defeated A Sujanapal of the Indian National Congress from the Kozhikode North constituency by 7,695 votes. He increased his lead in the subsequent elections of 2011 and 2016, defeating Congress candidates PV Gangadharan and PM Suresh Babu by 8,998 votes and 27,873 votes, respectively.

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Pradeep Kumar also served as a member of the Kerala State Sports Council from 2006 to 2009 and as chairman of the Committee of Privileges and Ethics in the 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly. 

He was born on May 15, 1964, to Gopalakrishna Kurup and Kamalakshi in Vadakara. His wife is Akhila PK and the couple has one daughter.

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