THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cabinet has decided to appoint Advocate K Gopalakrishna Kurup as the Advocate General of the state. He is the elder brother of former MLA K Suresh Kurup. Adv. TA Shaji will be the new Director General of Prosecutions.

VK Ramachandran has been appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board. He was also the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Board in the outgoing government.

Adv. K Gopalakrishna Kurup

K Gopalakrishna Kurup, a senior lawyer, was born on May 1, 1953 in Kottayam district to PA Kunjan Pillai and Bharathi Amma. He is the brother of CPM leader and former Ettumanoor MLA K Suresh Kurup. He was at the forefront of the Kerala Students Federation and later when SFI was formed. He also led KSYF. He enlisted as a lawyer on September 20, 1976. He started his practice in Kottayam as a junior of former MLA and Kottayam Bar lawyer M Thomas and Adv K George. In 1984, he started his practice in the High Court as a junior of his uncle N. Raghavakurup, a former Vazhoor MLA . In 2010 he was promoted as a senior advocate. He was state prosecutor from 1999 to 2001. In 2005, he was the President of the Kerala High Court Advocates Association. He is the President of the All India Lawyers Union High Court Committee and a member of the State Committee. Geeta is his wife. Children: Gayathri (New Jersey), Arun (Kozhikode), Parvathy (Manchester).

Adv. TA Shaji

Senior Advocate TA Shaji is the son of former Pallippuram Panchayat President TK Achuthan and Mandakini. He was educated at SNM College, Malyankara and Govt. Law College, Ernakulam. He started his practice in 1986. In 2012, he was promoted as a senior advocate. He is a member of the State Council of the All India Lawyers Union. TA Shaji, who has a long experience in handling criminal cases, was the Standing Consul of Kerala Bank and Regional Cancer Center. His wife is Prasanna Shaji. Children: Amal Shaji (Mechanical Engineer), Adv. Athul Shaji.