Thomas Chandy elected NCP's Kerala unit chief

 Kochi, April 28: Former state Minister and three-time legislator Thomas Chandy was on Saturday unanimously elected the new President of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Kerala unit. Chandy replaces acting President T.P. Peethamabaran, who was holding the post after the sudden demise of Uzhavur Vijayan last year. Senior party leader Praful Patel, who was present on the occasion, told the media that the new set of office-bearers of the NCP state unit was elected unanimously. Owner of a business empire in Kuwait, Chandy first entered politics through the Democratic Indira Congress, a party floated by Congress veteran K. Karunakaran in 2005. In the 2006 Assembly polls, DIC was an ally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front. After the polls, the DIC merged with the NCP. NCP has two legislators in the Kerala Assembly — Thomas Chandy from Kuttanad and A.K. Saseendran from Elathur. Both were re-elected from their seats in the last Assembly polls. (IANS)