State Congress leader V D Sathisan was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Kerala on Monday at a packed Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, marking the return of the Congress-led United Democratic Front to power in the state after a decade.
20 ministers, including 11 from Congress and five from the second largest alliance partner – Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), also took oath and secrecy along with the Prime Minister. One minister each from Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Jacob), Communist Marxist Party (CMP) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) completed the 21-member government.
Governor Rajendra Arlikar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Satyasan and his government.
Senior Congress leaders – including Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, AICC chief Mallikarjun Karg, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, were among those present.
Former Prime Minister and CPI(M) Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan, BJP state president-elect and MLA Rajeev Chandrasekhar, CPI(M) State Minister MV Govindan and CPI(M) State Minister Benoy Viswam were among the opposition leaders who graced the dais.
Among the ministers who took oath before the Congress were Ramesh Chennithala, P C Vishnunad, A P Anil Kumar, Roji M John, O J Ganesh, Bindu Krishna, K Thulasi, T Siddique, K Muralidharan, Sunny Joseph and M Lijo. The ministers from IUML are PK Kunhalikutty, PK Basheer, KM Shaji, N Shamsudheen and VE Abdul Ghafoor. Other allies include Anoop Jacob, CB John, Shibu Baby John and Mons Joseph.
All the ministers except Shibu Baby John and CB John were sworn in in the name of God. The two leaders, whose parties fall on the leftist political spectrum, confirmed their solemn commitment.
The gazette containing details of the portfolios and departments allocated to individual ministers had not been published until late Monday evening. While Chennithala, who lost to Sathisan in the CM race, is expected to hold the Home and Vigilance portfolios, the Chief Minister will hold the Finance, Ports and Law portfolios.
Thousands of activists belonging to the Congress and parties like the International Federation of Muslim Workers and the Kerala Congress started gathering at the Central Stadium ground, located behind the Secretariat Complex in Thiruvananthapuram, as early as 6 am. Many of them boarded overnight trains and buses from different parts of the state to attend the swearing-in ceremony. State police were under severe duress during the event to control the crowds and prevent them from entering the VIP and VVIP areas.
In the recently held Assembly elections in the state, the United Democratic Front won 102 of the 140 seats, the best ever result in nearly five decades. The LDF, which has been running the state continuously since 2016, saw its number of seats drop from 99 to 35. The BJP, which did not have any member in the outgoing Assembly, won three seats.
