After LDF's massive win, Kerala now in the hands of 92-year old VS Achuthananadan?

Thiruvanathapuram: As exit poll had suggested, the Left Democratic Front has trounced the United Democratic Front (UDF) with huge margin in the May 16 Kerala Assembly election.

With the LDF all set to form the next government in the state, the big question before everybody is, who would be the next chief minister of the state.

The two probable the party has for the chief ministerial post are- VS Achuthanandan and former state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.

During the start of the campaign, the party expected that there would be no trouble at all in making Vijayan the Chief Minister. However, Achuthanandan threw the hat at the last minute annoncing he was all set to take up the post of the Chief Minister.

Both VS Achuthanandan and party heavyweight Pinrayi Vijayan appear keen to take on the mantle – which has put CPM’s central leadership in a tough spot.

A meeting is scheduled to take place on May 20 to decide on the next chief minister of Kerala.

Speculation is rife that the party has arrived at an informal understanding on power sharing in which 92-year-old Achuthanandan (yeah, you read it correct) will lead the government for the first 2 years, and Pinarayi will get the chief ministerial's throne afterwards.

According to insiders, the party cannot afford to ignore any of the two leaders. While, Achuthanandan is extremely popular among the grass root level workers and has has contributed immensely to the party; Pinarayi is known for his administration and has proved his mettle on numerous occasion when it comes to decisions and running the party.

Here, we take a look at some of the major achievements of VS Achuthanandan:

• Initiated action against encroachment on government land in the hill resort and tea plantation town of Munnar
• On 30 December 2007, he became the first Communist Chief Minister to trek to the 400-year-old hill temple of Sabarimala. The 84-year-old Achuthanandan rejected any sort of physical or medical support which worried his doctors
• VS Achuthanandan supports free and open source software movement in the state and Richard Stallman has also supported his activities regarding this
• Major developments In Kochi Infopark including Infopark second phase
• Major developments in Trivandrum Technopark including 2nd and 3rd phases of Technopark and technocity IT parks In Alappuzha including one at cherthala and one at Ambalappuzha
• VS initiated the process start the construction of Kochi Metro from state government; however, central government did not approve the project citing financial reasons
• Vallarpadom transshipment hub project was completed during his tenure as Chief Minister. Though it was a central government project, VS had strongly stepped to take over land required for road and rail lines of the project