Senior Congress leader V D Sathisean took oath as Kerala’s 13th Chief Minister at a packed Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, marking the return of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) rule in the southern state after a decade of Left Front regime.
Besides Sathisan, his 20-member cabinet, including senior leaders and former ministers Ramesh Chennithata, who was also in the race for chief minister’s post, K Muraleedharan, AP Anil Kumar and state party chief Sunny Joseph, also took oath of office before Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlikar.
Senior Congress leaders, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharg, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his Telangana and Himachal Pradesh counterparts A Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, respectively, as well as Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, attended the swearing-in ceremony. It lasted about an hour and a half. Former chief minister and CPI(M) politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekar, CPI(M) state minister MV Govindan and CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam were also present.
Soon after the oath-taking ceremony, the new government, headed by Sathisan, held its first meeting at the state secretariat and approved a slew of welfare measures, including free rides in state-run KSRTC buses for women from June 15, $3,000 increase in monthly fees for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and formation of a dedicated department for elderly care in the state.
Two of these announcements – free bus rides for women and management to look after the welfare of elderly residents – were among the five “Indira guarantees” promised by the United Democratic Front in the run-up to the April 9 Lok Sabha elections. Sathisan said details of the scheme’s implementation would be announced later and other promises would be implemented in phases.
Speaking about the department dedicated to senior citizens, the Prime Minister told reporters: “As far as I know, Kerala will be the first state in India to have such an administration. Japan has a large population of elderly people and a model that can be emulated. We will conduct studies on how to replicate the Japanese model here.”
Sathisan also announced major decisions related to holding the new Assembly session on May 21 and 22 to take the constitutional oath and elect the Speaker. The Governor’s policy address will be delivered on May 29.
The new cabinet also approved the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to reinvestigate a case related to the alleged assault on two Youth Congress workers by militants of then CM Vijayan during a protest against the Nava Kerala Yatra in Alappuzha in 2023.
“The Supreme Court recommended reinvestigation into the incident, but the LDF government did not do so. We have decided to order it,” Sathisan said, rejecting the suggestion that it was political “revenge”.
The United Democratic Front swept the recent Kerala Assembly elections, winning 102 of the state’s 140 seats, ousting the Vijayan-led UDF government. The LDF won 35 seats while the BJP won the remaining three, its best ever performance in Kerala.
Sathisan was appointed as Congress legislature party leader 10 days after the May 4 results amid hectic lobbying in a three-corner race that also involved Congress leader Chennithala and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, to the top job.
In the 21-member Cabinet, including the Prime Minister who was sworn in on Monday, are 12 from the Congress, five from the UDF’s second largest partner, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and one minister each from the Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Jacob), Communist Marxist Party (CMP) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).
The Congress ministers are Chennithala, A Muraleedharan, A P Anil Kumar, Sunny Joseph, P C Vishnunad, Roji M John, O J Ganesh, Bindu Krishna, K Thulasi, T Siddique and M Lijo. From IUML, PK Kunhalikutty, PK Basheer, KM Shaji, N Shamsudheen and VE Abdul Ghafoor took oath as minister, as did allies Anoop Jacob, CP John, Shibu Baby John and Mons Joseph.
All the ministers took oath in the name of God, except Shibu Baby John and CP John, who formally confirmed their commitment.
As each minister took the oath, loud cheers rose from a large crowd of UDF workers and supporters present at the venue located near the General Secretariat. Thousands of Congress workers arrived in the state capital from all over Kerala to attend the event.
The newspaper, which includes details of the portfolios and departments assigned to ministers, had not been published at the time of printing.
Former CM Vijayan congratulated Satheesan and expressed hope that the new UDF government would continue the welfare initiatives launched and implemented by the previous administrations. Vijayan also congratulated the 21-member Cabinet and assured constructive support for all welfare schemes and activities.
