He could have easily become a Union cabinet minister during Manmohanji’s term. But his plans was to lead Kerala
George Kallivayali
Very happy birthday to my dear friend and Kerala’s opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala.
Wishing you all the best in life. May almighty God bless you Rameshji. 
Our friendship began in early 90’s and flourished during the emergence of Thiruthalvaadi group in Congress. (Except Ramesh, the other two pillars of that – G. Karthikeyan and MI Shanavas is no more).
I was the Secretary of the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club during that time, and was supporting the young leaders movement. Ramesh was NSUI and Youth Congress national President and became the youngest minister in the K. Karunakaran Government before that. He was also a close associate of my uncle and former governor MM Jacob in the party. Later we came very close when I came to Delhi in early 2001 and Ramesh was already a senior leader of the Congress party. I still cherish our trip to Chandigarh and few places in Haryana. I used to visit Ramesh’s North Avenue home and had dinner and lunch with his family. His wife and both boys- Dr. Rohit Chennithala and Ramit too became good friends.
Once when I landed in Thiruvananthapuram airport without informing anyone, Ramesh saw me and took me to his home. His mother gave a lovely lunch. Ramesh visited my home and was friendly to my family too. He discussed with me his plans to shift to Kerala politics after being a member of the Congress working committee.
He could have easily become a Union cabinet minister during Manmohanji’s term. But his plans was to lead Kerala. Even after becoming the KPCC President, Home Minister and later opposition leader, our friendship and mutual trust grew. He is definitely a CM material and I wish him all the best .
