Chavara's giant killer N Vijayan Pillai is no novice
Mr. Vijayan Pillai continued as a panchayat member for 20 years before he became district panchayat member in 2000.
KOLLAM: Mr N. Vijayan Pillai, 65, a six-footer, has emerged as a giant killer by defeating RSP minister Shibu Baby John in Chavara by 6,189 votes. This jubba-clad abkari had fallen out with the Congress and joined the CMP (Aravindakshan group) and was fielded by the LDF.
“I have worked for the people for over 40 years in various capacities and the people of Chavara know me well,” said Mr Pillai who had become panchayat member of Chavara in 1979. Son of Narayana Pillai, a veteran RSP leader, Mr. Vijayan Pillai continued as a panchayat member for 20 years before he became district panchayat member in 2000.
He was the main force behind the election victories of RSP leader Baby John and also his son Shibu Baby John in 2011. After the Baby John era, he stood with K. Karunakaran and joined the DIC and later the Congress party.
However, KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran’s statement that the Congress party did not need liquor traders in the party antagonised him and he stepped down as the DCC secretary and eventually from the Congress party.
Meanwhile, he also participated in Mr Pinarayi Vijayan’s Nava Kerala march at Chavara and Kunnathoor. The voters of Chavara have made him their representative in the Assembly in appreciation of his service to them and his simplicity.