Thiruvananthapuram, May 18
Vadasseri Damodara Menon Satheesan has been sworn in as Chief Minister of Kerala after leading the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) to a decisive election victory over the Left Democratic Front (LDF). Satheesan and his 20-member cabinet took the oath of office at a ceremony in the state capital on Monday. Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath in the presence of senior political leaders, party workers and supporters.
The UDF returned to power after 10 years, winning 102 seats in the 140-member assembly. The LDF secured 35 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who had earlier been seen as a contender for the chief minister’s post, was among those sworn in as minister. Other Congress leaders in the cabinet include K Muraleedharan, A P Anil Kumar and Kerala Congress chief Sunny Joseph.
Leaders from UDF alliance partners, including the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Kerala Congress and Communist Marxist Party (CMP), were also inducted into the ministry. Fourteen members of the new cabinet are first-time ministers, including Satheesan, who has represented Paravur in the state assembly since 2001 but has not previously held ministerial office.
The cabinet includes two women ministers — Bindhu Krishna and K A Thulasi. Thulasi and A P Anil Kumar are members of the Scheduled Caste community.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attended the ceremony along with chief ministers from Congress-ruled states including Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh.
Outgoing chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, senior Left leaders and BJP representatives were also present at the event.
Thousands of UDF supporters gathered at the venue, cheering as ministers took the oath of office.
