UDF Nayikkum! VD Satheesan to take oath as Kerala Chief Minister today

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After six decades, a full-fledged cabinet led by the Congress is being sworn in. Like in election campaigning, chief minister designate VD Satheesan played the hero in cabinet formation too.

The alliance partners and the Congress MLAs who stood firm with their claims were pacified after one and a half days of discussions. Amidst grumblings, differences and grudges, the final list was finalised by Sunday evening. The list of 20 ministers was handed over to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar by 5 pm. VD Satheesan and the ministers will take the oath at 10 am today in the Central Stadium.

14 people, including the Chief Minister, are new faces in the cabinet. There are two from the Scheduled Caste community. Apart from the Chief Minister, eleven are from the Congress. The Ezhava community, which has nine Congress MLAs, got only three ministerial posts. Senior leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan is the Speaker. Shanimol Usman is the Deputy Speaker. This is the first time a woman has been appointed to this post since A. Nafeesath Beevi in the second Kerala Legislative Assembly.

Chandy Oommen was included in the first list but dropped out at the last minute. Roji M. John was included in the cabinet, and O.J. Janeesh's name was considered at the last minute. It is learnt that Anoop Jacob, who was a full-time minister in the previous UDF cabinet, will get only two and a half years this time. The remaining two and a half years will be given to UDF independent Mani C. Kappan.

K.A. Thulasi will get the first two and a half years, and then will be handed over to I.C. Balakrishnan. Although the majority of ministers are KC supporters, Thulasi and Balakrishnan were included at the request of Chennithala. In the Muslim League, P.K. Basheer was included after excluding Parakkal Abdulla.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi MP, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Himachal Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI State Secretary Binoy Viswam, BJP State President Rajeev Chandrashekhar and others will participate in the oath-taking ceremony today.

Ministers and the Department of Opportunities

V.D. Satheesan (Chief Minister) - Finance, Public Works, Law and Order

Ramesh Chennithala - Home, Vigilance

P.K. Kunhalikutty - Industry, IT, Hajj, Waqf

C.P. John - Transport

Mons Joseph - Water Resources

K. Muraleedharan – (Department undecided)

Sunny Joseph - Revenue

Shibu Baby John - Employment

Anoop Jacob - Food

A.P. Anil Kumar – (Department undecided)

P.C. Vishnunath - Tourism and Culture

M. Liju - Excise

P.K. Basheer - Public Works

N.N. Shamsuddin - Education

K.M. Shaji - Local Self-Government

T. Siddique - Forest

Bindu Krishna - Women and Child Welfare Department

O.J. Janeesh - Youth Welfare

Roji M. John - (Department undecided)

K.A. Tulasi - S.C., S.T. Department

V.E. Abdul Ghafoor - Fisheries