20-member cabinet in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister-designate VD Satheesan on Sunday unveiled a 20-member cabinet ahead of the swearing-in of the new government, comprising experienced leaders and 14 first-time ministers, including two women and two members of the scheduled caste community.

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 discussions among alliance leaders, taking into account social and regional balance within the coalition.

The ministers announced include senior Congress leaders and former ministers Ramesh Chennithala, K Muraleedharan, and AP Anil Kumar, besides KPCC chief Sunny Joseph.

Senior IUML leader PK Kunhalikutty, RSP leader Shibu Baby John, Kerala Congress leader Mons Joseph, and Kerala Congress (Jacob) leader Anoop Jacob will also be ministers.

All of them have served as ministers in the previous UDF government.

The new faces in the cabinet are CP John and IUML leaders N Shamsuddin, KM Shaji, PK Basheer, and VE Abdul Gafoor.

Congress leaders PC Vishnunadh, Roji M John, Bindu Krishna, T Siddique, KA Thulasi, and OJ Janeesh are also among the new ministers from the party.

The UDF has also decided to appoint senior legislator Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan as Speaker of the Assembly, while Shanimol Usman will serve as Deputy Speaker.

The chief whip will be from Kerala Congress (J) and will be announced by party chairman PJ Joseph.

Satheesan said several deserving leaders could not be accommodated in the cabinet despite the Congress securing 63 seats, calling it one of the party’s biggest victories in the state.

“Let new faces come. There should be opportunity for all,” he said.

When asked about the exclusion of some prominent names, he said there could be others who were equally or more deserving.

“However, when a party like Congress makes decisions, factors such as social and regional balance have to be considered. We have 63 MLAs after a historic victory, but could accommodate only 11 in the cabinet,” he said.

Regarding portfolio allocation, he 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.