Thiruvananthapuram:Congress leaderVD Satheesantook the oath as Kerala Chief Minister today (May 18) at the Central Stadium in Thiruvannathapuram. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge are among the key leaders who attended the oath-taking ceremony. Along with Satheesan, 20 MLAs also took oath as cabinet ministers.
Senior Congress leaders and former ministers Ramesh Chennithala, K Muraleedharan and A P Anil Kumar have found a place in the cabinet, along with KPCC chief Sunny Joseph. Senior alliance leaders including IUML veteran P K Kunhalikutty, RSP leader Shibu Baby John, Kerala Congress leader Mons Joseph and Kerala Congress (Jacob) leader Anoop Jacob have also been inducted.
Arlekar congratulated Satheesan after he took oath as Kerala CM. Thousands of UDF supporters also gathered at the stadium to attend the oath-taking ceremony. Notably, the Congress-led United Democratic Front returned to power after 10 years. Notably, Kerala was the last state rules by the Left.
Notably, discussions on the cabinet began on Friday and continued through multiple rounds of meetings between Congress leaders and alliance partners before the list was finalised on Sunday evening. At around 5 pm, Satheesan left Cantonment House with the list to meet the governor.
Home Ministry Given ToRamesh Chennithala
In a rare political move in Kerala, Satheesan decided not to keep the powerful Home portfolio with himself, choosing instead to hand it over to his party rival senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala - a decision widely seen as a reconciliation move. Confirming the move, Chennithala said on Monday: "Today is an auspicious day for the people of Kerala because after 10 years, the UDF is coming to power... It is our bounden duty to give good governance to the people of Kerala. The new government is going to be sworn in today... I am going to take up the Home portfolio."
Kerala Assembly Election Result:
On May 4, the Congress-led UDF alliance won the assembly election with a decisive mandate, together winning a total of 106 seats with Congress bagging 63 and its alliance partner 22, among other regional allies.
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) was reduced to just 35 seats, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) winning 26 seats and the Communist Party of India securing 8. Other allies registered marginal gains, in the 140-member assembly.
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