Satheesan with 20-member cabinet to take oath today

Kerala chief minister-designate VD Satheesan along with 20 ministers, including 11 from the Congress and five from its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), will be sworn-in as part of the new United Democratic Front (UDF) government in an elaborate ceremony in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, marking the return of the coalition to power in the southern state after a decade.

- Vishnu Varma

The UDF swept the recently concluded Kerala assembly polls, winning 102 of the state's 140 seats, ousting the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. The LDF won 35 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the remaining three seats, its best ever performance in Kerala.

Addressing a press conference after submitting the list of ministers to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at Lok Bhavan, Satheesan said the names were finalised after two days of hectic discussions among alliance leaders, taking into account social and regional balance within the coalition.

“There are deserving leaders among the 63 MLAs of the Congress who we could not, unfortunately, accommodate. As a party, the Congress has to look at social and regional balance too. The list was formed after several rounds of consultations with senior UDF leaders,” Satheesan said.

Regarding portfolio allocation, Satheesan said it was almost finalised and would be discussed further with alliance partners.

“Usually, portfolio details are submitted to the Governor after the swearing-in ceremony. We will submit them on Monday. After the Governor's approval, it will be published as a gazette notification,” he said, adding that there was an understanding with alliance partners on portfolio sharing, and further discussions would be held.

Satheesan was named as the Congress Legislature Party leader 10 days after the May 4 results amid hectic lobbying in a three-corner race also involving senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, to the top post.

The ministers announced include senior Congress leaders and former ministers Chennithala, K Muraleedharan, and AP Anil Kumar, besides KPCC chief Sunny Joseph, KPCC working presidents PC Vishnunadh, AP Anil Kumar and T Siddique.