Alphons Kannanthanam, who is tipped to be the first Keralite minister in the Narendra Modi government, has an illustrious past as a firebrand IAS officer before taking the plunge into politics.
A 1979 batch IAS officer, Kannanthanam hails from Manimala in Kottayam. The 64-year-old BJP national executive member emerges as a surprise pick, perhaps even for his party leaders in Kerala. His name had not cropped up during the initial stage of the talks on the crucial ministry reshuffle.
The bureaucrat-turned-politician's clean image must have prompted the BJP top brass to cherry-pick him from Kerala to the Modi government.
Kannanthanam entered politics when he still had seven years left in civil service.
A man of eloquence, Kannanthanam termed his decision to take to politics as an attempt to learn human life beyond files.
He quit as land revenue commissioner, eying a prominent space in Kerala's left fold. In 2006, he was elected to the Kerala assembly as a CPM-backed independent. In 2011, he switched alliance to the saffron outfit and eventually found his way to the BJP national executive.
Controversies have stalked his bureaucratic career and that includes his bold decision to raze to the ground several illegally constructed buildings in New Delhi during his stint as Delhi Development Authority commissioner.
That bold initiative catapulted him to the Time magazine's list of 100 young global leaders for the new Millennium in 1994. He also earned accolades as district collector when Kottayam achieved 100 percent literacy.
An educationist, who made it to the civil services despite scoring low marks in Class X exams, Kannanthanam was recently nominated to the Kasturirangan-led panel instituted to prepare the National Education Policy.