KK Shailaja is often known by the nickname "Teacher".
KK Shailaja, who earned praise in her role as Kerala's Health Minister for handling the Covid pandemic and Nipah outbreak, scored a big win today from Mattannur, her home town and a CPI(M) stronghold.
The 64-year-old CPI (M) leader, a teacher by profession, won by over 60,000 votes from the constituency in Kannur district.
As votes are counted for the state election held on April 6, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), her party, is also set to retain Kerala for a second term, trends suggest, bucking the trend in the southern state that has seen a see-saw politics in the last four decades and has alternated between the Left and the United Democratic Front.
Will she serve as the state's health minister again? Speaking to NDTV, earlier in the day, KK Shailaja, often known by the nickname "Teacher", said: "Whether I will be the health minister again is something that will be decided when a decision by the cabinet is taken. So, I cannot be sure at the moment."
"What I want to highlight is that we faced many challenges during our tenure. We had a devastating hurricane, floods, the Nipah virus, and COVID-19 pandemic but we rose to the occasion each time. The people saw this and were happy with the model of governance in Kerala and hence we have been voted to power again for the work we have done."
The southern state, which reported India's first Covid cases last year on January 30, is yet witnessing a spike in cases. Kerala has logged 16 lakh cases so far; over 35,000 cases were reported just yesterday. But KK Shailaja is confident that the curve can be flattened.
"In the last 1.5 years, we worked towards defeating Covid. We struggled to develop our health system capacity. We were non-stop arranging oxygen supply. We believe we can flatten the curve," she added.
"In Kerala, only 11 per cent population affected, Vaccination can save 89 per cent of population. Centre has not been fulfilling our need for vaccines. To vaccinate all adults - in the 18-44 category, we need more than 1.5 crore vaccines," the CPI-M leader further stressed.