CM-designate V D Satheesan unveils 21-member Kerala UDF Cabinet ahead of swearing-in

Thiruvanathapuram: Ahead of the swearing-in of Keralam Chief Minister tomorrow, the chief minister-designate V D Satheesan on Sunday called on Governor Rajendra Arlekar and submitted the final list of his proposed cabinet ministers, which include three women. Addressing a press conference at the Cantonment House in Thiruvanathapuram, Satheesan announced the names of 20 of his cabinet ministers, who will take the oath alongside him at tomorrow’s swearing-in ceremony. The cabinet ministers include Ramesh Chennithala, KPCC Chief Sunny Joseph, and K Muraleedharan. “Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan will be the Speaker and Shanymol Usman will be the Deputy Speaker,” Satheesan said, adding that the Deputy Speaker will be Shanimol Usman and the Chief whip will be Kerala Congress chief PJ Joseph.

The member United Democratic Front (UDF) government is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday at a ceremony at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Congress leader Satheesan had steered the United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance to victory in the recent Assembly elections, a decade after it lost power in the State. “After 60 years, the full cabinet of UDF is going to be sworn in tomorrow at 10 am. Today 20 ministers list we have submitted to the Governor. Twenty-one ministers will be sworn in along with me,” Satheesan said.

“We have discussed with the coalition partners, we have interacted with all Congress leaders within the party, and we are delighted to say that within 24 hours we have completed the entire process, this is the fastest in the history of Kerala. Because even after election, the team UDF is team UDF, leaders are respecting each other. Congress has 11 cabinet ministers. “We have 63 MLAs, some are more eligible than others, but unfortunately, we have to consider the social and regional balance and the representation of women and Dalit representation. We are not able to include all the eligible persons in the cabinet. We have included two members from the SC, two women are in the Cabinet, and one Deputy Speaker is a woman. We have done the maximum to accommodate...” Satheesan said that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Himachal Pradeh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivkumar and many ministers from the states will be attending tomorrow’s oath-taking ceremony.

“Of course, Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan and BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, CPI Secretary Binoy Viswam and IUML president Pannakad Sadikal, many UDF leaders, MPs and MLAs will also attend,” Satheesan said. Asked about the participation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay in tomorrow’s oath-taking ceremony, Satheesan said, “Till now there is no information that he will be coming.”

About allocation of portfolios, Satheesan said, “The allocation of departments has been almost finalised, with only a few minor corrections remaining. The decisions regarding the constituent parties have also been nearly completed. Usually, the list is submitted to the Governor after the swearing-in ceremony, and that will be done tomorrow. Following that, the government’s Gazette notification will be issued.” ( ANI)

 Also Read: All that is history: Satheesan, Venugopal send strong Congress unity signal