Kerala Chief Minister V D Sathisan on Wednesday distributed portfolios to ministers of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government, keeping Finance and Law along with 36 other ministries with him, and allocating Home, Vigilance and three other departments to senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala.
After the approval of Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlikar, the portfolios of all 21 ministers have been allocated via gazette notification, where Satheesan will also head the Department of Public Administration and deal with all important political matters and subjects not mentioned elsewhere.
The notification said that state Congress president Sonny Joseph will be the new Minister of Power, Environment and Parliamentary Affairs, while his party colleague K. Muralidharan has eight ministries, including health, medical education and temple affairs.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second largest partner in the United Democratic Front government with five ministers, received a large number of ministerial portfolios. Its leader PK Kunhalikutty will head the departments of industry, commerce, information technology, artificial intelligence, startups, mining, geology, handloom and textiles, the notification said.
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Among the other Congress ministers, RJ M John is the Higher Education Minister, A P Anil Kumar will head Land and Revenue, P C Vishnunad has been given charge of tourism, culture and three other departments, M Lijo has been given cooperation and excise, T Siddiq will handle agriculture and three other departments, while K Thulasi is the minister for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes Development.
Congress MP Bindu Krishna has been given charge of six departments, including labor and animal husbandry, while party leader OJ Ganesh will head seven departments including sports, youth affairs, registration and zoos, Lok Bhavan said.
Among other IUML ministers, N Shamsuddin will be Public Education Minister, V E Abdul Ghafoor will be in charge of Fisheries Department, PK Bashir will be in charge of Public Works Department and K M Shaji will be in charge of local self-government authorities, the notification said.
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Among other alliance partners, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) Shibu Baby John will be the forest, wildlife and skill development minister, Kerala Congress (Joseph) leader Moon Joseph will head the irrigation, groundwater, water supply, sanitation and housing departments, while Kerala Congress (JAC) Anup Jacob will head the food and civil supplies department. The land and water transport departments will be headed by the Communist Party of Marxists (CMP).
Speaking to reporters later in the day, Sathisan dismissed reports of any delay in identifying portfolios, claiming that all disagreements over allocation of departments were resolved on Monday itself. He said the list of portfolios was ready by Monday night after the swearing-in ceremony, but the governor did not return to the state capital until Tuesday night as he had gone to Thrissur.
“Wednesday morning, we submitted the list to the governor. So, where was the delay? All the wrangling was over by Monday night. Normally, it takes 48 hours after taking oath to finalize the list of portfolios. This time it was done by Monday night,” Sathisean said.
On May 18, Sathisan, along with his 20 cabinet ministers, was sworn in in Thiruvananthapuram, days after the Congress-led United Democratic Front swept the April 9 Kerala assembly elections, winning 102 of the state’s 140 seats. The Liberal Democratic Party won 35 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party won the remaining three seats.
(with PTI inputs)
