THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: M V Govindan Master who has received excise and local bodies is considered as number two in the second Pinarayi Vijayan government. Govindan master who is also a central committee member is the only minister in the cabinet from Kannur after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Last time Kannur had three ministers in the cabinet namely, K K Shylaja, E P Jayarajan and Ramachandran Kadanapally.

M V Govindan who was appointed to lead the party in various districts whenever the party faced a crisis has dealt with issues effectively. He was elected this time from Taliparamba. This is the third time he is getting elected from the Taliparamba constituency.

In the local body ministry, the continuation of pro-people schemes like Life Mission will be a challenge for the minister. The coordination of local self government bodies in the wake of the covid pandemic will be another responsibility of Govindan Master. If K K Shylaja was in the cabinet she should have become number two, which naturally fell into the hands of M V Govindan Master in her absence.

In the absence of the chief minister, the cabinet should be led by that minister who is number two in the ministry. During the tenure of the first Pinarayi government, the chief minister was not ready to hand over his responsibilities to E P Jayrajan, who was number two in the ministry, even when he went to the United States for treatment. Presently M V Govindan is the second senior-most in the cabinet after Pinarayi Vijayan.